Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez - Gorillaz: Review
are a virtual band that at this point really need no introduction. The project is spearheaded musically by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and visually by artist Jamie Hewlett and have been releasing music for almost 2 decades including some of the most essential fusions of indie, electronica and hip hop of the past 20 years. After releasing one of their least conceptual and most straight forward projects with 2018's The Now Now the band is returning with a collaboration driven project that featured many singles leading up to its release.
Review By Lavender:
Like most people on Earth I love the music of Gorillaz. Damon Albarn is responsible for some of my favorite albums of the Brit Pop era and his creativity streak continued through one great Gorillaz record after another. Even on projects that lacked the bands usual poise like Humanz and The Now Now there were still plenty of great songs in the mix that showed off the bands consistency and creativity. Throughout the series of singles released in the lead up this record I was impressed with the remarkable consistency and quality of every single song I heard which had me pretty excited for this record. While I wasn't quite as blown away by some of the deep cuts and even less so by the bonus tracks, the core 11 songs are the best set of tracks I've heard from Gorillaz in a long time.
The record opens with a missions statement in the form of the title track Strange Timez. The song features an absolutely killer hook from Robert Smith of The Cure alongside the muted monotone 2-D vocals that Damon so often lends to Gorillaz tracks. The whole song is caked in an exceptionally catchy instrumental and kicks the record off with an absolutely wonderful start. The Valley Of The Pagans is up next with an upbeat groove and a Beck feature that feels straight out of Odelay. The catchy synth leads and bouncy percussion are a perfect pairing, the whole track is just so impossibly fun and infectious that I can't help but indulge with it. Pan-Man may have been my favorite of all the singles which is saying something given how good they are as a group. This track is basically the exact formula by which the Gorillaz achieve success. The simple cheap sounding synths are absolutely perfect and insanely catchy, Damon's singing is perfectly monotone and the hook is catchy and instantaneous, on top of that the Schoolboy Q feature is grimy and multi-faceted. Everything about the track is exactly what makes Gorillaz great.
The Pink Phantom really surprised me, I never though a track featuring 6lack and Elton John could be this good. The combination works perfectly and I think the creative decisions at its core are what powers it. The song is a piano ballad that bounces between the muted R&B styles of 6lack and 2-D only to burst into the harrowing dramatic hook vocals from Elton. The songwriting is perfect and the way the performances work together makes for the most unexpected highlight of the bunch. Aires is a New Order song, not literally. While it is Damon and company performing the track they recruited New Order bassist Peter Hook to help give the song that extra touch and turn it into worship of the absolute highest form. The song has those warm melodies, rapidly ascending drum passages and those effortlessly smooth basslines that so many good New Order songs are based around. The sounds are so refreshing in 2020 and this song emerged immediately as one of my favorites. The last major highlight is the closing track of the standard edition and was the lead single released all the way back when life was normal, remember that. Momentary Bliss pairs a dreary guitar line under a Slaves bridge with a rowdy up-tempo Slowthai feature and the result is the most unapologetically British thing you'll hear in 2020. Not only does it hold up on its own but it serves as a great closer to the album.
Even when the record isn't perfect these songs still have quite a bit to offer. The Lost Chord features a heavy bassline carrying much of the instrumental and more frontal vocals from Damon on the verse. The whole track is exceptionally groovy and smooth, even though the hook isn't that eventful it still stands out and makes for a pretty solid track. Chalk Tablet Towers is one of the more low impact songs here but it's still a breezy pleasant listen. The St. Vincent feature mainly works as backing vocals which is a bit of a shame but the song has a summery indie pop vibe that persists throughout and doesn't miss a beat. Friday 13th is a reggae song that's a refreshing twist in the tracklist. While the singing on the hook could use a big of a boost but I do actually really enjoy the kind of slurred sloppiness of the verses. It reminds me of Pursuit Of Happiness and while this isn't one of my favorite tracks it is a good one that stands out. Desole has been a fan favorite that hasn't quite stuck with me in the same way as other songs here. This extended version starts with some long uneventful passages between decently enjoyable refrains from Damon here and there. Thankfully the second half of the track is a big improvement with some extra instrumentation being introduced and more energetic performances that mostly save the track. Finally Dead Butterflies is one of the least eventful songs here with a very comfortable trap beat courtesy of Mike Will Made It. Both features on the track help bring a little bit more impact to the song but even though nothing here is bas it's definitely one of the only forgettable songs here.
Even though I'm not counting the bonus tracks towards my score there are definitely some songs and some individual performances worth hearing. The long EARTHGNAG featuring track Opium is a real highlight and so is the Goldlink and Unknown Mortal Orchestra song Severed Head. If you want to hear JPEGMAFIA step out of his comfort zone he has a really interesting feature on the track MLS and the single How Far? turns up here with a solid Skepta feature too. On average though these 6 tracks aren't nearly as quality as the 11 that appear on the albus main tracklist.
Strange Timez is a wonderful collection of tracks and the best Gorillaz project I've heard since Plastic Beach, which earlier this year I called one of my favorite albums of the entire last decade. While this may not be that caliber of release these songs are exceptionally smooth and consistently catchy. Stripping it down to basics and getting a ton of talented collaborators on board brought out the best in Gorillaz songwriting and in turn made use of some excellent featured performances. The result of all this is a creative, engaging and incredibly fun listen with refreshing surprises around every corner and a record Gorillaz fans have got to hear. 8.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
This is a good illustration for a cover. It's not ground breaking but it is to the point and gives me what I expect from Gorillaz. The color palette is nice and the small additions make this a cover you can look at for a while and still find new detail in it. 5/10
For more great music check out my review of James Blake's Before EP here
