Sometimes great music comes from obscure places. Other times it’s so obvious that the music is overwhelmingly amazing that impossible to put your finger on the pulse of why that’s the case. After a few years of working behind the scenes with L.A.-based producer/maestro Flying Lotus, bassist extraordinaire Thundercat (not to be confused with the ‘80s cartoon of the same name) is finally getting the widespread respect and acclaim that’s been long overdue. While his solo debut, 2011’s The Golden Age of The Apocalypse, garnered him attention amongst those in the know, Apocalypse smashes in the proverbial door and establishes Thundercat as our generation’s answer to Herbie Hancock.

Themes of loss and sadness are prominent throughout the album. This makes sense due to the death of frequent FlyLo/Thundercat collaborator, keyboardist Austin Peralta. While the 23-year-old played an important role in shaping the sound before his death, the artist also known as Stephen Bruner goes places sonically where very few musicians are able and willing to go. All of the hallmarks of the FlyLo sound are there, meaning electronica exploration, but Thundercat takes the bass line for a walk on these jazz-funk infused songs that showcase his terrific falsetto and truly carves out a sound he can call his own.

While many musicians are risk averters, Thundercat takes chances that a lot of people wouldn’t have the balls to. Spacey beginnings mixed with soulful soundings open up “Tenfold,” which could easily be a song from the classic era of R&B and soul, yet has a modern twist. On a track like this one, his embracing of electronica not only fills out the sound, but it candy to your ears. Meanwhile on “Heartbreaks + Setbacks,” the tempo shifts upwards and the fusion of jazz, pop and electronica. “Oh Sheit It’s X” on the surface sounds like a classic club song due to it’s spunkiness, but if you delve through the disco and funk, the song is more along the lines of something Stevie Wonder and especially George Clinton would have written in their heyday. The synths drive the song, but the bass line is what holds the song together. Combine those two elements and you have an anthemic track that is debatably the best one on the record.

Apocalypse’s greatest accomplishment isn’t that it has somehow flown under the radar, but rather that it makes listeners rethink what exactly are musical genres and why do they define who an artist is. Thundercat takes a variety of sounds, and like a chemist, mixes them together to create the perfect potion that he can call his own. The only comparison besides a lazy glance towards FlyLo can be shot towards Radiohead. Yes, it may sound like blasphemy to compare the bassist to a band as accomplished as the Radiohead, but what Thundercat is doing is as progressive and interesting as anything the band has done in their latter years. The best example is on the album’s first single “Lotus and the Jondy.” Give it a listen and you’ll hear the change in tempos, beginning with the aforementioned genre fusions before finishing with a killer instrumental. It may not sound like much, but listen below and you’ll fully grasp this cool ‘Cat.

Somehow against the odds, an album by bass virtuoso has soared into the minds of many music listeners. But those who have known of Thundercat aren’t surprised. In fact, they’re wondering what took so long for so many people to get to the party.