CHILDISH GAMBINO - Bando Stone and The New World | 2LP

With some sadness for his fans from all walks of life, Donald Glover has declared that "Bando Stone and the New World" is Childish Gambino's final album. The soundtrack to the feature film of the same name, this hour-long project features snippets of dialogue hinting at the film's apocalyptic subject matter. The fact that the soundtrack precedes the film itself is part of Glover's strategy: he wants listeners to actively engage with what they're hearing. "The soundtrack forces the audience to participate in a way I don't feel like most things force you to participate," he says. "It forces you to have imagination. I already see people saying, 'This is very cinematic, this must be the part where… This sounds like end credits.' A lot of things feel flat because they don't ask you to participate. In the past, art required you to participate on some level and have some kind of thought process." You can't just say, "Oh, we're halfway there!" Even without the full visuals, these 17 tracks form a satisfying swan song, synthesizing what came before with fresh ideas gleaned at the threshold of finality.