Description
2020, 2×12″ LP + CD + Art Book + Prints, Parlophone. Deluxe edition
It’s hard to believe Gorillaz, the virtual band that triggered a million sci-fi articles about culture arriving in the future (well, the new millennium), have now been going 20 years. More than enough history to have long-since proven themselves far from a fad, on their seventh album it’s clear they’re also still capable of new ideas, or at least fresh ways to remix old ingredients. Punk explodes next to piano balladry, lo-fi electronica eases into low slung hip hop funk. It’s a chart-worthy affair that reminds us post-genre is today’s mainstream, here served in traditional songwriting framework rather than the current dominant avant-pop crop. Even if the lyrics are non-stop curveballs, from Robert Smith’s appearance on the title track, through Beck’s MCing on ‘The Valley of the Pagans’ and St. Vincent’s playful party vibes on ‘Chalk Tablet Towers’. – Juno
