James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
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Go on. Admit it. You didn’t expect a group of cartoons to make it to their third album. Having now been around for almost a decade, Gorillaz have surprised us all. It just goes to show what a member of Blur and an impressive line up of guest vocalists can do for a band. The cartoon alter-egos allow Damon Albarn the freedom to be braver than ever on Plastic Beach, with wide scope and great variation between tracks creating an intriguing mix of music. Oh and just so we’re all clear, the album was apparently recorded on an island made of rubbish, the lead singer/bassist kidnapped most of the vocalists to get them there, the others were invited by golden ticket and the guitarist was re-built from her own salvaged DNA to record the album. Obviously.
Guest vocals from Snoop Dogg on “Welcome to the World of Plastic Beach” give the album a modern pop twist to begin with, quickly lost to the Lemon Jelly style synthesisers, complimented with a beautiful strings section echoing Vampire Weekend later on. With hints of MIA emerging in ‘Rhinestone Eyes’, it’s as if Albarn has taken in everything that’s been released since 2005’s Demon Days and worked it into one incredibly varied, but equally impressive, album.
Guest vocalists or instrumentalists feature on virtually every track on the album and range from Lou Reed to Mark E Smith (of The Fall), giving each track a new twist and making each a little surprise for the listener. Little Dragon (featured on ‘Empire Ants’ and ‘To Binge’) is invaluable, creating a beautifully haunting angle to the whole affair. Even the video to lead single ‘Stylo’ throws in a few surprises with Bruce Willis giving chase to the computer generated band. The album develops like a story unfolding, with the end of each track leaving the listener excited to see what (or who) the next will throw at us.
The only songs allowing the listener to reminisce of albums past are ‘On Melancholy Hill’ and ‘Cloud of Unknowing’, but it’s definitely not a bad thing. Overall, the album has a creepily haunting, cartoon air to it, which generally made me want to do the robot. The only criticism is that ‘Stylo’ doesn’t really jump out as a single, but that said, I can’t say what would be better. Is it a whole album of potential singles? Or an album or good songs, none of which are great? Either way, I’m not sure it’s going to be chart-topping where singles are concerned. It’s just that little bit too weird. But what more can you expect from a cartoon band, really?
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