On Thursday, Nov. 10, Childish Gambino released a new single titled “Me and Your Mama.” It serves as a teaser to his newest album, Awaken, My Love!, which will be available on Dec. 2.

If it’s anything like this new teaser track, the album will be an experimental and artistic installment of Gambino’s unique style.

Donald Glover, the man behind Childish Gambino, released his debut album, Camp, in 2011, showcasing the beginnings of his unique style. Songs such as “Heartbeat” and “Sunrise” exhibited softer backing tracks featuring piano and soul instruments, all overlayed with his intense spoken vocals.

From the beginning, we see Gambino’s inclination to experimentation. His second album Because the Internet, released in 2013, also showcased the same pattern of instrument-heavy backing tracks behind his gritty rapping.

However, Glover began to dabble with varying his style with songs such as “3005” and “IV. Sweatpants” on his second album. This experimentation carried over to his latest album Kauai.

On Kauai, Glover ditched his tough rapping and replaced them with smooth vocals, debuting his R&B-style singing voice. From his debut in 2011, Glover showed how versatile he was, and this new song only shows further his multifaceted musical style.

“Me and Your Mama” begins with electronic-sounding windchimes, lulling the listener and putting them in a comforting trance. Then a small gospel choir enters with staccato vocals, furthering that lulled trance the listener is in.

As the beats and volume intensify, the song takes a quick turn from a lullaby to a soul-rock-infused gospel song with a deep guitar and bass background. Gambino brings back his gritty vocals, but this time they’re inspired by Ray Charles and other soul singers. His voice pulses with passion and sucks you into the song.

The song grooves through its sounds of overlaid gospel, electronic, soul and rock, interlocking to create an artistic and unique experience. It is completely different from his past songs, showing that his new album will most likely be his most experimental yet.

If Awaken, My Love! is anything like “Me and Your Mama,” we can expect a soulful, passion-filled, gospel inspired theme album filled with his most artistic work yet.

Featured Photo Credit: Feature photo courtesy of Roger Ho on Flickr.

Monica Pizzo is a freshman journalism major and can be reached at mpizzo@terpmail.umd.edu.