Childish Gambino preps "final" LP 'Bando Stone & The New World' (hear "Lithonia"); interactive NYC event this weekend

Donald Glover has announced what he says will be his final Childish Gambino album. It’s titled Bando Stone & The New World and will be out July 19 via RCA. The album is also billed as a soundtrack to the film of the same name, and the trailer for that dropped on Sunday during the BET Awards telecast.

Today, Glover has shared the first single from the album, “Lithonia,” which was co-written and produced with Max Martin (Britney Spears, Coldplay), film/TV composer Ludwig Göransson (The Mandalorian, Oppenheimer), and Michael Uzowuru (SZA, Frank Ocean, Beyoncé). It’s a stadium-sized pop-rock anthem with a chorus of “Nobody gives a fuck,” and you can listen below.

As for the Bando Stone & The New World movie, Glover directed it from a screenplay credited to mystery scribe Evi Wilder (pen name?). There’s no release date or details like if it’s actually a full-length feature film or what. The trailer plays like a rollicking Indiana Jones / Romancing the Stone style adventure with sci-fi elements, and you can watch that below.

Folks in NYC can learn more very soon, as Glover is presenting a Bando Stone & The New World “exclusive interactive experience” event at Little Island’s The Amph & The Park this Saturday (7/6). They’re calling it CHILDISH GAMBINO LIVE FROM LITTLE ISLAND; it’s described as a “listening event,” but also there will be a “performance” of some kind. You can also get “Listening Party only” tickets that “do not include access to the primary performance venue or views of the stage where the performance is taking place.” Tickets for the “experience” are “extremely limited” and extremely affordable ($10-$25), and go on sale Wednesday, July 3 at 10 AM.

Meanwhile, Childish Gambino’s world tour begins with a North American leg featuring support from WILLOW. There are two Brooklyn shows at Barclays Center on August 26 & 27.