In January 2020, the band announced a new project called Song Machine, revealing that they would be moving away from the traditional album format, instead shifting to a series of periodically-released singles involving an ever-revolving roster of collaborators, with the song "Momentary Bliss" serving as its first "episode". The entire storyline of the band breaks down into "phases" generally surrounding the rollout of each album it currently consists of five completed phases, with the second season of the sixth phase currently underway. While the band's backstory was initially presented through various interviews and promotional material, it was eventually all pieced together through their 2006 autobiography, Rise of the Ogre. To prove that musical groups could be executed in a more interdependent fashion, they created fictional backstories and put much emphasis on the animation and cartoons. The virtual band was created as a commentary on MTV often putting more of an emphasis on the musician than the music itself, having a discrepancy between the visuals and the music. While their earlier work was often categorized as trip hop, even that discounted the overt influences they took from alternative rock, hip-hop, dub, electronic music and pop, which have only given way to further experimentation in their later years. It's a triumph for all concerned and should rightfully end the year as being one of its finest and most celebrated releases. Other unlikely collaborators crop up throughout, with Ike Turner on "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead", Neneh Cherry sexily supporting "Kids With Guns" and Dennis Hopper narrating a tale about the happy folk on "Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head".Ī concise and enjoyable 50 minutes, Demon Days is so much more than just a rock star's novelty side project or thinly veiled solo album. But the album's highlight has to be the rumbling dub of "All Alone" which unites Roots Manuva with Martina Topley-Bird. Shaun Ryder guests on the mighty "Dare", and sounds more alive than he has for years.
Tracks such as the basstastic current hit single "Feel Good Inc" featuring De La Soul and the free download "Dirty Harry", which seems to blend the menace of a children's choir over a Tom Tom Club-ish funk stand out. Hooking up this time with Dangermouse, who produced the online bootlegGrey Album which spliced Jay-Z's Black and The Beatles' White albums together to create merry copyright hell, Albarn has accumulated a stellar supporting cast of star guests to broaden Gorillaz's musical horizon. Singles aside, the debut album sounded somewhat unfinished, with most tracks being no more than vague sketches.ĭemon Days is a different, more widescreen kettle of fish altogether. We knew the band was supposedly made up of ten year old musical genius Noodle, Satan worshipping green toothed bassist Murdoc, cuddly brick sh*thouse drummer Russel and the blue-haired singer 2D "for the ladies", but it essentiallysounded like an Albarn solo album produced by then-collaborator Dan The Automator. WhenGorillaz's debut album came out in 2002, buoyed by the huge success of the "Clint Eastwood" single, no one really knew what Albarn and co. Gorillaz return with a blisteringly good album that happily skips from genre to genre and looks set to be one of the most rewarding albums you'll hear this year.