The eighth studio album by the cartoon personas of Damon Albarn is one of the shortest and most musically coherent, catchy, clever and poignant, with guests including Thundercat, De La Soul, Stevie Nicks, Beck and Tame Impala. The title track points to the virtual members being now trapped in a cult, “a made-up paradise where the truth was Auto-Tuned”, and plays on the idea of losing all sense in the online world, with some numbers also pointing towards climate meltdown, as in previous LPs Humanz and Plastic Beach. That title track, is classic Gorillaz, aided with fabulous bass from guest Thundercat, Albarn’s distinctive vocals and a skipping beat. Another is Silent Running, featuring Adeleye Omotayo, while Stevie Nicks seems to also seems integrate seamlessly on Oil. Another standout is Crocadillaz (feat. De La Soul and Dawn Penn) with a particular poignancy with the recent sudden passing of Dave aka Trugoy. Two of the best tracks, Baby Queen, inspired by meetign a member of the Thai royal family at a Blur concert, and The Tired Influencer, show that Albarn doesn’t have to cram in guests to make a great song, while Puerto Rican reggaeton singer and rapping superstar Bad Bunny’s appearance on Tormenta, meaning stormy, seems to belong on another record. However Beck fits perfectly on the final, beautiful, melancholy number, Possession Island, featuring that profound lyric: “Where things, they don't exist /And we're all in this together ‘til the end”. Out on Parlophone.
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