Childish Gambino -- the serious-but-not-always-totally-serious musical alter ego of actor Donald Glover -- took a turn away from the quirky hip-hop of Camp and Because The Internet into the more psyched-out reaches of '70s funk and soul on 2016's "Awaken, My Love!"

The results were pitched exactly at the right place between earnest homage and knowingly ridiculous send-up to inspire debate and confusion amongst observers prone to debate and confusion over such things, but there was no denying that Childish Gambino channeling Parliament-Funkadelic, early Prince and maybe a hint of D'Angelo on the side made for compelling listening. Nor could one argue with the fact that sometime comedian Glover had taken the matter of challenging and bettering himself musically on this album very seriously. And if "Awaken, My Love!" does lean a tad by times towards the knowingly ridiculous, one mustn't forget that P-Funk and Prince in their respective heydays were rather fond of doing the same themselves. In any case, it's arguably a stroke in this record's favour that one has to dig really hard to find anything written about it that doesn't somewhere employ the word "funkadelic." Because, at the end of the day, that seems to suggest that "Awaken, My Love!" is, itself, funkadelic.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Me and Your Mama
2. Have Some Love
3. Boogieman
4. Zombies
5. Riot
6. Redbone
7. California
8. Terrified
9. Baby Boy
10. The Night Me and Your Momma Met
11. Stand Tall