If you'd ask me what some of my favorite bands are, Gorillaz would be one of the first bands I'd mention. Gorillaz was created as an animated band by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. Together, they create music that blends alternative, hip hop, rock, pop, and many other genres with animated music videos featuring fictional bandmates 2D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russell. So far, they have a pretty strong discography. Their self-titled debut is solid, despite a few duds here and there (aka "Starshine" and "Punk"). Demon Days is one of my favorite albums of all time; it's a project that I would call nearly flawless. Plastic Beach is another amazing album, but it's not quite as good as Demon Days due to one or two tracks that pale in comparison with the rest (aka "Glitter Freeze"). Unfortunately, after Plastic Beach, things were not looking too well for the animated band. The Fall is incredibly forgettable, with only two or three songs that truly stand out. Then, after a 6-year long break, they return with Humanz, which was okay. I enjoyed the album up to "Busted and Blue," but most everything after that ranges from average to absolutely terrible, some songs being among the worst Gorillaz material to date (aka "Sex Murder Party" and "We Got the Power").
Now, a year after Humanz, Gorillaz have announced a new album. The Now Now will be released in June and will contain 11 tracks; the shortest tracklist of any Gorillaz album. Only two songs have featured artists. From looking at that, it's clear that the band is going in a different, more condensed and focused direction. And with this album, they've released two singles: "Humility" featuring George Benson and "Lake Zurich." I took a listen to the songs, and after a few listens each, here are my thoughts.
"Humility" is being treated as the true lead single of the album, mainly because of the music video attached, which is a great music video, might I add. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by this track. It is certainly a different direction for the band. I've heard them take on funk before, through tracks like "Strobelite" and "Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head." However, their approach to funk is wholly unique. The song gives off a 70s summer vibe, with its bright synths, its Thundercat-esque bass, and its jazzy guitar leads provided by guest George Benson. It all culminates to a very charming and fun track.
As per usual for a Gorillaz song, the production is fantastic. There are lots of layers of instruments in the song, and they all fit so well with each other. The instrumentation is lush, cheery, beautiful, snappy, and, like I said, funky. Plus, it's nice to hear Damon Albarn have a prominent vocal role on a Gorillaz song again. While Humanz was fine and featured a decent amount of 2D, the whole project felt like a compilation of tracks where Gorillaz acted as the producer instead of the artist. With this song, it's all Gorillaz, and it's great.
I honestly don't have a lot to complain about. As for nitpicks, I wish the guitar had a little more presence in the track. It sounds great, but I think that if the guitar had a little more focus, the song could be even better. Maybe have more guitar passages or maybe have the guitar turned up a little in the mix? I'm not sure. I also think that the song could have had a stronger ending. And by ending, I mean the exact end. Once that final chorus wraps up, the song just stops. I wish that the song would have wound down or up enough to make a true resolution instead of everything being dropped off. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this song. It's a tune that keeps getting better and better with each listen. I can't wait to hear it in the context of the album. Final score: 4.25/5 (might change once full album is released)
"Lake Zurich" is an interesting song, and something I would not expect as one of the lead singles, for a number of reasons. For starters, this song is mostly instrumental. Yeah, 2D is nowhere to be found on this track. There are a few spoken word passages here and there, but that's it. It's not too often that a largely instrumental track is released as one of the tracks to promote an album, at least for projects with vocals (not counting instrumental albums). As for the song itself, it's pretty good. The music is very funky. In fact, it might be one of the funkiest songs Gorillaz has ever made. There is a fantastic synth riff here that has a strong 70s disco fusion feel. It blends together with the other synths, the bass, the drums, and the weird vocal moments so well. The track has so many instrumental touches that I just love, like the bells that are played at certain moments and the odd "wah" vocal effect that is used towards the end of the song. However, what makes the song truly stick out are the strings. They sound fantastic, and the melody that they play are so punchy and tie the song together so well. In terms of instrumentation and production, this is some of the best music Gorillaz have made since some of their stuff on Plastic Beach.
But that begs the question, why don't I love this track. As petty of a reason it is, it comes down to the lack of vocals. Now don't get me wrong, I love me a good instrumental jam. In fact, songs like "YYZ" by Rush, "The Dance of Eternity" by Dream Theater, and "Satch Boogie" by Joe Satriana are some of my favorite songs of all time. What those songs do is use their instrumentation to progress the music in interesting ways. "Lake Zurich" has a cool sound that builds on itself throughout the runtime, but that's it. It doesn't do anything to keep it interesting throughout, making the track as a whole not feel substantial. I had the same problem with songs like "Double Bass" and "Glitter Freeze." They're both songs with cool instrumentals, but they never seem to go anywhere. Gorillaz seem to have a problem with that with the few mostly instrumental tracks they've made.
That's why I think adding vocals would have helped a lot for "Lake Zurich." The vocals would have given the song some progression, thus giving the song more of an impact. It would help aid the direction of the song to make it feel stronger as a whole. Without vocals, the track feels rather empty. Now, does that mean I think it's a bad track? Not at all. In fact, I think it's a really good track. I just don't think it's as good as it could be. Now, this could completely change in the context of the album. In fact, when I first heard the song, I thought it was just okay. It's grown on me quite a bit already, and I can see myself loving it once the full album is released. But, as of now, I think it's a solid song with a great groove. Final score: 3.5/5 (might change once full album is released)
Overall, I am looking forward to this track a lot. Just from these two songs, I can tell that Gorillaz is focusing their sound a lot. I think that is something that they desperately need. One of the most common criticisms of Humanz was how all over the place the album was sonically. The Now Now seems like it's going to be nowhere near as sloppy in that regard. Let's hope that Gorillaz have another great album in them, and their "Humanz" and "The Fall" days are behind them.
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