Albums this scattered in tone are rarely so successful. It’s by turns haunting, playful and deeply sad, all depending on the track. Meta-references to places and products abound, until one feels part of a place, not a collection of tunes. This isn’t a concept album, however first and foremost, this is pop music, danceable and occasionally savage. Thematically more cohesive than either Gorillaz or Demon Days, the album was apparently inspired by Albarn’s sense of melancholy arising from prefabricated modern life and an idea of plastic as a formative part of a new ecology. Thankfully, Plastic Beach breaks the mold. Secondly, while their singles (“Clint Eastwood,” “Dare”) have been insanely catchy fusions of keyboards and dance beats, their two previous efforts tended to be a bit softer in the album tracks. In fact, if the band never create another record, it will stand as their masterpiece and a new paradigm of collaboration.Īs a band, Gorillaz have always stood on shaky ground first, you have to suspend the disbelief that Hewlitt’s cartoon creations are anything but vaguely unkind caricatures of rock stars. On many records, this kind of self indulgence could lead to a debacle of Chinese Democracy proportions, though fortunately it’s Gorillaz’ best record yet.
They’re highly idiosyncratic choices, ranging from stalwarts like the aforementioned rap forefathers, indie up-and-comers Little Dragon, grizzled veterans Lou Reed, Mark E.
Gorillaz’s new album Plastic Beach offers no less than 13 featured artists on 16 tracks- more if you include each member of De La Soul. The virtual band spearheaded by the once and sometime Blur frontman and illustrator Jamie Hewlitt has largely surpassed the peak of the former’s Britpop days (2005’s Demon Days single “Feel Good Inc.” reached a higher position on the US Billboard than any other in his career), but Albarn seems content to cede the spotlight further and further as his career gets hotter. While other rockers may go into reclusion when their star fades and their record sales start to plummet, Albarn seems perfectly content to remain a vague presence even on the records most dominated by him.
Damon Albarn must be the most fame-averse pop star on the planet.
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