Music Reviews

Gorillaz will forever have a special place in my heart, even though their, up to this point nearly flawless, discography was kind of dumbed down by the virtual band’s last two LPs „Humanz“ and „The Now Now“, both of which have their own problems – Humanz was blouted with features, safe production choices and really uncohesive structure, while The Now Now was in my opinion just really boring and only had a few stand-out tracks – it more felt like Damon Albarn, the mastermind behind Gorillaz, was just trying to cover up for the mixed reception of Humanz with an even more mixed release. But here we are now, Song Machine is finally out, so let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Right of the back the album kicks off with the keys-heavy „Strange Timez“, which is just a great opener – it sets the dark, but still that remarkable Gorillaz sound, with those haunting piano melodies and wirling keys, while Robert Smith give us a pationate vocal performance, with some fitting lyrics, that compliment the sound pretty well. Then it explodes into these walls of sytnhs towards the end of the track, with 2D and Robert Smith singing the chorus – by the end of it, it just comes full circle and feels like a complete song, but more importantly a grand opener. The following track „The Valley Of Pagans“ is just a good time, with the track’s up-beat sound and fast tempo – also the featured artist Beck really kills his performance here. I also can’t stress enough how insanely detailed the sound of not only this song, but the whole album is – the layers of pianos, guitars and sharp drums just sound so refreshing and sweet to the ears. What also sounds sweet to the ears is the follow-up track „The Lost Chord“ with it’s spacy and mysthy production and the absolutelly GORGEOUS ascending vocals on the chorus. It’s a nice more slow-paced moment on the album and it somehow still keeps the momentum going. The next song „Pac-Man“ is easily the most catchiest tune here – the chorus on this thing is absolutely phenomenal and could go toe-to-toe with something of of the band’s „Plastic Beach“. The ScHoolboy Q feature was also a nice touch, with the second half of the track changing from the electronic crispy beat, to a more natural and free production, where ScHoolboy really shines and takes on a more introspective last verse. The next song „Chalk Tablet Towers“ is probably one of the weaker ones here, especially momentum-wise, where the song is basically just a filler. Though it features some really good production and vocal melodies, but you could say that for the whole album really. Though the next song „The Pink Phantom“ picks things up again, with that absolutely stunning Elton John feature, low-key production and some really impresive vocal layering in the later half. 6LACK is also on here, but he is just kinda there, even though he compliments Elton surprisingly well. The song „Aries“ was probably one of my favorites released prior to the album’s release – the gentle guitar plugs, the synth-based summer-oriented beat and 2Ds passionate vocals make up for one of the best songs in the band’s catalog. „Friday the 13th“ is an intresting one, because originally, I didn’t really care about this one, but damn if this isn’t a huge grower – this song is the definition of „the more you listen to it, the better it gets“, because it really grows on you substantially with each listen – the summery production with the off-beat Octavian feature combine into a pretty laid-back expirience with a nice piano beat-switch in the second half. The song I was most worried about, when I first heard it though was probably „Dead Butterflies“ – right off the back the more trap-inspired beat made me kinda worried at first, but once those pianos come in and 2D starts singing, then I instantly knew this was going to be one of my favorite here – and I was right. This is the most passionate 2D’s vocals sounded since the Plastic Beach era – like seriously, those vocal melodies and the overall performance are just stunning. It also smoothly transitions into the next track „Désolé“, which is a French ballad, with some of the best and most gorgeous produciton I’ve heard this year – the sharp drums with the gentle guitar melodies make for a haunting, yet somehow soothing atmosphere. And don’t even get me started on the feature – Fatoumata Diawara absolutely kills her vocal performance here, easily one of the best features of the whole album (which is saying a LOT). The closer is the one song, that started it all – the first single released before the album itself „Momentary Bliss“, which if that isn’t a statysfying finnish, then I don’t know what is. It is perhaps the most raw-sounding song of the whole album, which compliments slowthai’s rather agressive style really well. The booming guitars and agressive keys just make for a banger of a tune, that is a worthy closer, for such an amazing album.

This album is what you call learning from your mistakes – it takes everything the last two Gorillaz albums failed at and makes it succeed at every single one of those things. The production is top-notch, the features are amazing and it all comes together by the end – it just felt like a really cohesive compilation of songs. That’s right, I said compilation, because if there is something to be left desired on this album, then it’s the fact that it doesn’t really feel like a Gorillaz studio album and more just like a collection of Gorillaz songs – though great songs at that. But beyond that, there is nothing negative I can really say about this one – it’s just a hit after hit and I’m only curious, where the band take their sound from here.

light 9/10