The brainchild of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett returns for a concise synth-pop record that breathes a Californian sound into the British outfit. Riley Halls Backler provides his thoughts on the highly anticipated release.
Ahhhhhhh, Gorillaz. Since their return in 2017 they’ve continued to pump out a consistent stream of records that have ranged from the politically-charged Humanz, the psychedelic The Now Now and the chaotically concise first season of their Song Machine project. A commonality between them all? Excess. What this latest record does, while still engulfed in lavish amounts of lore through videos and a prevalent social media presence, is relax a bit. Recorded in California, Cracker Island explores how a malicious cult might be able to take over a small island struggling after years of hardship.
Sound familiar? Like always, 2D (and his frequent collaborator Damon Albarn) doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind on the state of the world, the album’s title track critiques how people can happily live in an echo chamber with themselves, resting on their laurels. It’s a belter of a track, and sets a high standard for the album as a whole, with feature Thundercat’s driving bass line and awesome synth lines that populate the entire album. A staple of Gorillaz’ music, the features this time around are top billing, from Stevie Nicks, to Beck, to Gorillaz royalty Bootie Brown. Oil is a bright synth-pop protest song with Nicks on backing vocals, and has such a hopeful optimism, far from the bleakness of their previous protest album Humanz. New Gold, a chart topper from the record has a strong psychedelic hook from Tame Impala, with effortless verses from Brown, really highlighting the impact California had on the album’s recording process.
"Gorillaz are able to drop their hip-hop influences for a Californian sound that gets more infectious on repeat listens."
Despite this however, Gorillaz vocalist 2D (Albarn) really takes centre stage in this record, striking a good balance between features and his own unique voice. Skinny Ape might be one of the best Gorillaz songs ever written, with the acoustic charm of Harry Styles’ Boyfriends, a bass line straight out of Tubeway Army and a melody only Albarn could conjure. It’s ending is an explosion of sound I don’t think Gorillaz have really tried before, it’s so kinetic and emotive that it came so out of left field to me, but in the best way. There are low points, sure, Tormenta would feel more in place on feature Bad Bunny’s own project, and the album’s bonus tracks lack the same charm as their contemporaries. Overall though, Gorillaz are able to drop their hip-hop influences for a Californian sound that gets more infectious on repeat listens. I’ll be sure to make the trip to Cracker Island myself to see what all the fuss is about.
Riley Halls Backler
Edited by: Izzy Morris
Cover and in-article image courtesy of Gorillaz on Facebook. Video courtesy of Gorillaz on YouTube.
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