release date: Oct. 23, 2020
format: vinyl / digital (17 x File, FLAC - Deluxe)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,22]
producer: Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka; James Ford et various
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights:
1. "Strange Timez" (feat. Robert Smith) (4 / 5) -
3. "The Lost Chord" (feat. Leee John) -
4. "Pac-Man" (feat. ScHoolboy Q) (4 / 5) -
5. "Chalk Tablet Towers" (feat. St. Vincent) (4 / 5) -
7. "Aries" (feat. Peter Hook and Georgia) (4 / 5) -
8. "Friday 13th" (feat. Octavian) (4,5 / 5) -
9. "Dead Butterflies" (feat. Kano and Roxani Arias) -
10. "Désolé" (feat. Fatoumata Diawara) (4 / 5) -
11. "Momentary Bliss" (feat. Slowthai and Slaves) (4 / 5) -
12. "Opium" (feat. EarthGang) -
15. "With Love to an Ex" (feat. Moonchild Sanelly) -
16. "MLS" (feat. JPEGMafia and Chai) -
17. "How Far?" (feat. Tony Allen and Skepta)
7th studio album by Gorillaz following two years after the The Now Now album is the continued Damon Albarn-led music project. Albarn is the mastermind behind the songs and Remi Kabaka, Jr. is his wingman in terms of producing the sound of the individual tracks.
The Song Machine experiment is an episodical project launched Jan. 2020 with the song "Momentary Bliss" (featuring Slowthai and Slaves) (track #11) - and the idea has been to release one new song each month alongside a video directed by graphic director of Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett - something that has been accentuated after the Corona-lockdown. Albarn has written and composed partial or more definitive ideas and sent these to collaborating artists, who then have developed on or contributed with vocals or instrumentation, after which Albarn and Kabaka have laid down a final production. The cast of featuring artist is as diverse as the music itself. Here, Albarn mostly collaborates with new musical friends, although, the final track features the late (Nigerian-born) Tony Allen - who also were part of Albarn's side-project The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Robert Smith of The Cure has contributed with vocals and instrumentation making the first song sound like a mix of 1980s post-punk scene and electronica of the early noughts. And in a not so far stylistic universe, Peter Hook of New Order seamlessly blends with Albarn's most Bernard Sumner-like vocal and produces a song resembling New Order's Low-Life-period. Beck has never sounded fresher and Elton John comes to live again, but the featuring artists has been gathered from not only various decades and genres but from several continents - especially when including the Deluxe Edition. The majority of artists come from Britain or the US, but you will also find Malian singer / songwriter Fatoumata Diawara, South African vocalist Moonchild Sanelly (Sanelisiwe Twisha), Japanese all-female rock quartet, Chai, Venezuelean vocalist Roxani Arias [?], and Unknown Mortal Orchestra from New Zealand.
Stylistically, this is a genuine Gorillaz album - considering the wide-spread pond of musical influences you always hear in the music by Albarn - or at least in his post-Blur period. However, far he moves in various directions, he almost magically condenses everything to something fitting within the Gorillaz' universe. The 2017 album Humanz also featured various guest artists but somehow this works even better on this album. and if the 2018 album was a favourite of mine, this newest collection of songs simply beats that and not only is years' best album but also Albarn's best-ever album.
Albarn is simply one of the most underrated artists in the world of modern music, and I do know he's quite successful and that his music is cherished and played all over the globe, but from my perspective, it's nearly only possible to underrate the value of his contributions. On this album he makes sure that the guest artists comes out as individual artists - they shine because of his arrangements and at the same time he adds his own vocals and / or instrumentation to the songs making all compositions sound as stemming from one and the same source - which in a way they do 'cause Albarn made it all happen!
As far as concern the album's track highlights it's a bit of a job to pin out highs on an album that shines in its own light. The standard vinyl album is an eleven songs album, and the Deluxe Edition - made available in a download edition and as a 2 lp vinyl edition contains seventeen tracks (the Japanese edition contains 18 tracks).
Unfortunately, I find that it has become a rare thing to come across new music that stirs you in the same way music did when you were young but with this, I can frankly say that this is it! And did you notice? The album is called "Season One"... And yeah, the second chapter is already on its way and according to Albarn himself scheduled for release Mar. 2021. This man is a factory of music!
Highly recommended!
2020 Favourite releases: 1. Gorillaz Song Machine, Season One - Strange Timez - 2. Kesi BO4L - 3. I Break Horses Warnings
