Last week, I had predicted that the new Gorillaz album would be another uneven affair-- Previous albums, Gorillaz and Demon Days, contained some amazing songs, but also just way too much filler for their own good. Those first two albums were viewed by most people as if they were alternative hip-hop albums, and, especially on Gorillaz, there were times when it seemed like the album contained five interludes in a row before we even got another song!
So let me just say this, I was wrong in my prediction of Plastic Beach. Really, we were all wrong. The most noticeable thing about the album is its dropping of pretenses. The 'band' is now officially a music project instead of an occaisionally hit-making novelty. Indeed, what Plastic Beach does NOT have are definite chart-wallopers like "Feel Good Inc." -- however, that is not a disappointment as there are no 'out-of-nowhere' shotgun blasts to disrupt the album's flow (an idea that MGMT seeks to accomplish on their next album). On the prior records, the big songs came in the middle of experimental filler completely free of context or explanation. I'm willing to bet that most people skipped straight to the songs that they liked and gave sonic experiments like "All Alone" a pass.
So the new record turns out to be a record of context. Albeit, a context I don't completely understand-- it has something to do with an escape to an island made entirely of recycled wastes? What I can glean from this is the concept of 'escape' (I'm wondering if frontman, Damon Albarn, heard Washed Out 's EP last year), as the album fits together in a cohesive (a first for Gorillaz), chilled out, surprisingly positive way. Even near-experimental tracks such as "Glitter Freeze," the title song, and "Broken" feel like they belong.
Albarn himself, formerly the frontman of Blur, is no stranger to pop-- and this is the first Gorillaz album I would classify as a pop album rather than an alt-hiphop one. Former producers Dan the Automater (Dr. Octagon) and Danger Mouse (Gnarles Barkley) were hip-hop heavyweights, but the main producer this time around is Albarn himself. Utilizing the now-omnipresent 80's-textured synthesizers, he gives the record a more-profound dance element and pop 'lushness' that one might expect more of a band like, say, Passion Pit-- or the aforementioned Washed Out. It doesn't feel as strange as it might have once felt to call a Gorillaz album 'pop' -- especially in a day and age when Lady Gaga is consistently topping the charts.
The project stays true to its roots, though-- Hip-Hop is still a present force here, but the collaborators on Plastic Beach dive into the relaxed atmosphere rather than aiming to steal the spotlight. MC's include the eternally chilled-out Snoop Dog, and alternative hip-hop mastermind Mos Def-- the latter microphonist giving a truly hypnotic performance on "Sweepstakes." The band also taps some of the UK's underground-- like Bashy. Then, there are certifiable legends on board like Lou Reed (The Velvet Underground) and Bobby Womack.
So, needless to say, there are still plenty of moments that will thump the soundsystem of your car, but equally incredible are the absolutely gorgeous moments-- for instance, the intro and outro of "White Flag," the layered vocals of collaborating band, Little Dragon's, lead vocalist, Yukimi Nagano, at the end of "Empire Ants," and the entirety of Albarn's "On Melancholy Hill."
And I have to heep praise upon the album's positivity. First single "Stylo" let us know that this wasn't going to be another Demon Days, and the breakfast food jingle of single-on-deck "Superfast Jellyfish" -- with the help of De La Soul-- is one of the goofiest, most carefree Hip-Hop songs I've heard in a while. Gorillaz had always been a decidedly dark project, but now they've decided it was time to lift us up, and carry us, drifting us afloat in sweet dreams rather than sinking us into the lonely, spacey nightmares of their previous efforts.
Given changes in musical tastes over the past few years, a smart band moving in the right direction-- even a band comprised of fictional characters-- could only have yielded an album like Plastic Beach-- a true breath of fresh air and a major accomplishment for Gorillaz.
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