Childish Gambino, “Bando Stone and The New World.”

The shapeshifter or body snatcher able to invade and occupy people and objects is a recurring character type in science fiction and fantasy. From John Carpenter’s arctic horror film “The Thing” to science fiction legend Philip K. Dick’s early short story “Beyond Lies the Wub,” the stories revolve around our anxiety that as individuals, we can be co-opted by sinister aspects of the world outside ourselves. Multitalented rapper Childish Gambino, born Donald Glover, takes shapeshifting to musical extremes on Bando Stone and The New World.

Glover moves effortlessly between rap, pop and even emo on his latest. “Lithonia,” for example, blends Evanescence-style overdriven guitar with an anthemic vocal melody that’s either parodying or paying tribute to bands like blink-182 and Oasis. Glover nails the emo ennui, belting out the song’s first lines accompanied only by an organ.

“Cody LaRae/ He had a break/ He’s findin’ out/ That nobody gives a fuck,” Childish Gambino sings. Theories abound on Reddit as to the identity of “Cody LaRae” (which, if you don’t check the lyrics, will absolutely have you singing “caught in the rain”), but the most likely scenario is that LaRae is a character in the upcoming film for which the album serves as a soundtrack.

The album, like Glover, is intersectional; a convergence of music, film and the artistry involved being a celebrity, you know, like David Bowie. The album may also be Glover’s last under the Childish Gambino moniker. Bando Stone follows Glover’s stuttered releasing of his last album, first as an internet stream during the height of the lockdown titled, 3.15.20, and then in fuller form as Atavistic, earlier this year.

Bando Stone feels much more fully realized. Rap track “Yoshinoya” is a tour de force. In the first verse, Glover blends the styles of Kanye, Kid Cudi and Pusha T to address, over throbbing bass, the recent beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

“Thеy got a gun in your back/ This who you trust when you sleepin’ at night/ I’m in the mirror, I see what I like/ It is what it is, I’m right whеn I’m right/ Fuck with my kids, you fuck with your life/ You fuckin’ these hoes, I’m fuckin’ my wife,” Glover raps in support of traditional family values while also, apparently, taking a swipe at rap culture’s (specifically Drake’s) hedonistic lifestyles. In the song’s second verse, Gambino drops Jay-Z-style bars over a powerful backbeat. “Rather have my foot on they neck than they hand on a mic,” Glover explains.

While fans will have to wait to get a look at the upcoming film, Bando Stone, outlines some ambitious subject matter, and offers up some serious collaborations. The album’s second single, futuristic R&B tune “In the Night,” features English singer-songwriter Jorja Smith and Ghanaian American singer-songwriter Amaarae. The syrupy “Can You Feel Me?” featuring Legend, borrows from Michael Jackson’s breathy ballads. Hip-hop sensation Yeat joins Glover on “Cruisin’.” “When you almighty, all the Gods cry, all the Gods cry like—” Glover and Yeat sing at the song’s chorus.

Bando Stone and The New World may be Glover’s musical high water mark. The ambitious album reflects his success as a force to be reckoned with both as an artist, but also as a marketer and visionary in the 21st century.