Thee Black Boltz by Tunde Adebimpe

Tunde Adebimpe, the co-lead singer of stellar 2000’s band TV on the Radio (who are still touring despite having not put out any new music since 2014), has a higher-register voice that is pristine, and it rings through much more than it ever did on the grittier TVOTR stuff. His debut solo album, Thee Black Boltz, more than fills the ten-year void since his full band released their last album.

Born in St. Louis, MO, to immigrant Nigerian parents, Adebimpe has always had a commanding presence on stage, and his star has only gotten more shining now that he’s aged into a man whose dark skin is starkly contrasted by the half inch of bright-white hair atop his head and full beard. Over the past twenty years he’s been able to do so much more thanks to his talents and his looks, appearing in numerous films and television series (such as Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married, Noah Baumbach’s Wedding Story, and Disney’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew).

But it’s his voice that keeps me coming back. On Boltz, he seems to alternate between a few personas within his solo work. There’s some skit-like jokey singing, paired with a couple songs that could have easily been found on a Living Colour album 30 years ago. For the lead single from the album, “Magnetic,” Adebimpe channels his best Ozzy, to great effect. This song also sounds the most like a TV on the Radio song, thanks to the appearance of his TVOTR bandmates Jaleel Bunton and Jahphet Landis.

“At The Moon,” the third track on the album, feels like a lost Nine Inch Nails song with the strong synth rhythm driving the song forward. And then there’s my favorite from the album, “Somebody New” (featured in the video above — it’s fun, you should watch it). Clearly influenced by the New Orders of old, this amazingly-fun hand-clappy dance song could easily have been a b-side to a recent song by The Weeknd.

With the success of this new solo album and with TV on the Radio touring again, Adibempe is just starting the ascent of a new arc in his career as he enters the second half of his century on earth. Check out his full KEXP performance, with his touring band that also includes Bunton and Landis, but distinctly lacks founding TVOTR member David Sitek. Sitek has been on hiatus while the band tours on the 20th anniversary of their smash debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. I have seen no indication of anything new coming out, but if experience tells me anything, there’s got to be something on the horizon. This is all too good not to.