The long wait for a new Thundamentals album will finally be over on Friday, May 2, when the hip hop trio from the Blue Mountains will drop So We Can Remember. In addition to the new album, the trio is bringing their slick lyricism and funky beats to Flyrite, Thursday, May 8. Despite a three-year hiatus with no projects released due to other commitments, the group has been able to remain in the spotlight, CHRIS McCLAIN speaks to MC Jewson of Thundamentals.
“In an ideal world, we would have liked to have the album out a little bit sooner,” Jeswon says. “I think just other commitments have kind of spiced things up to a certain extent.”
Jeswon believes that fans of the trio – known as Thundakats – have reacted positively to the two singles released off the album and expects So We Can Remember to be a hit. “Despite the fact that we haven’t released a full project in three years, we’ve released a few songs that have actually brought more attention to what we’re doing than our previous two albums and EP,” Jeswon says. “We’ve kind of been lucky like that and I feel like anticipation for this album is at a really good level. I feel like we’ve got more people checking out our music than we ever have.”
After seeing their lead single off the album, Smiles Don’t Lie, create a #5 position on iTunes Hip Hop Charts and earn a position at #32 on triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown, the trio has now released Something I Said as their second single off the album.
The song features fellow Blue Mountain musician Thom Crawford on the vocals. Crawford, a friend of Thundamentals, brought his vocalist expertise to the song to help develop it how Thundamentals had imagined. “It’s a very organic kind of thing where Thom was just around and we were hanging out and we said ‘look, we wrote this chorus, written this melody, we’d love to have you have a crack at singing it,’” Jeswon says. “He just came in and nailed exactly what we wanted. It was exactly what we had imagined on the track. He came in, and within a few takes, he brought the vision of it to life.”
The trio prides themselves in their ability to deliver lyrics that people can relate to as opposed to the “braggadocious” hip hop that is so common in today’s music culture. “[It’s] kind of a mix between sample-based and live instrumentation and just trying to bring a positive vibe and an honest vibe as well – I think that’s what we’re trying to do with our lyricism,” Jeswon says of the trio’s music.
While the trio experiences many of life’s difficulties just as most people do, Jeswon wants the album to deliver an uplifting message that will help motivate listeners and remind them that good things can come, especially if you work to better your life. “Overall, I think it’s a positive thing and we realize that life isn’t rosy 100 percent of the time and this music can hopefully lift people up,” Jeswon says. “We understand what you’re going through because we are going through it as well and we are trying to make this music to remind ourselves that life is good and that each situation can get better, it’s just a matter of working through the bullshit and pushing to the other side.”
