Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz
Happen to catch Tunde Adebimpe in Twisters last year as the the storm-chasing scientist named Dexter? If not, you almost certainly recognize him as the frontman of TV on the Radio, one of the most essential bands of the aughts that made consistently strong indie rock records up until their hiatus nearly a decade ago (and have since picked up where they left off). The promotional push behind Adebimpe’s debut solo album Thee Black Boltz is terrifically massive, as one might expect from a label with the legendary reputation of Sub Pop, but there’s a remark Adebimpe made in a press junket for Twisters that captures the essence of Thee Black Boltz. He said it’s “about having a passion or an internal vocation that you kind of get swayed from and then, for some reason—whether it’s out of necessity or emergency—you come back to finding this thing you’re supposed to do, putting aside your fears and doing it.”
For all the creative genius and artistic adrenaline that TV on the Radio injected into their finely crafted records, what Adebimpe reveals on this record is that his abilities are similarly magnificent when fully realized on his own terms. Every song on Thee Black Boltz reminds us that he’s not merely a gifted singer and tinkerer of loops—his primary musical preoccupations with TV on the Radio—but that he’s an even more versatile and multifaceted artist overall.
Unlike his work with TV on the Radio, rock music only surfaces in dribs and drabs on Thee Black Boltz, with Adebimpe preferring to embellish the record and stretch out his talents as an electronics wizard. The brilliance of his gloriously realized mission is found in the care he takes to ensure engagement with the listener through infectious beats and rhythms, and never alienating them with self-indulgently delving too deep into the intricacies of technological trickery that newcomers and devoted TVOTR fans alike wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate.
Thee Black Boltz warms up the listener with a 37-second sample in which a stuttering, AI-sounding narrator says, “He say, say we start in the stars/ Descend to the mountain/ Walk down and through the hillside towns/ Settle our love and hate affairs.” That advice— communing with nature, letting go of resentments (“Streetlight Nuevo”), noticing that the world can still change for the better (“ILY”), while music can continuously console and reassure us throughout—is exactly what we all need to focus on as we try to survive the darkest chapter of American history in at least 150 years. That’s not a subject assessment, either; Adebimpe has publicly said Thee Black Boltz reflects the grief he is experiencing over America’s now-complete transformation into an authoritarian nation (“Ate the Moon”), as well as the death of his sister during the making of the album.
Thee Black Boltz may be an intense listen due to its lyrical content. But the journey Adebimpe takes, starting with the feisty opening song (“Magnetic”) to the relatively solemn closer (“Streetlight Nuevo”) captures the human experience, and how we grapple emotionally—and must always rise to the occasion (“The Most”) at all costs (“Pinstack”)—amid the unpredictable ups and downs of life itself.
Label: Sub Pop
Year: 2025
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