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| Demon Days - Gorillaz |
 This review is a month late. Not due to laziness on the writers behalf,
not due to the album in question being particularly rubbish, but because
“Demon Days”, the latest offering from Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz is so
frustratingly different, divergent and distinguished that it’s nigh on
impossible to pin it down, wrestle with its multiple genres and layers and
emerge victorious with something clear to say about it.It’s the sound of hip-hop taking rock and rap for a Saturday night out at a dance club, cheating on its girlfriend with trip-hop, getting funky on the dance floor with some acoustic pop and waking up on a Sunday morning in bed with a hangover as the sun shines through the curtains and the birds sing. Not a very clear description is it? Neither is Demon Days a particularly clear album, as it bounces playfully on the back of rounded bass lines and leaps off into all directions like a kid getting carried away on a bouncy castle and shooting off into a bunch of giddy birthday party guests. Demon Days, as the name may suggest, is somewhat of a dark album, slower jaunts like ‘Kids With Guns’ and the trip-hop orientated “November Has Come” are rather sombre affairs, but then, the latter succumbs to the drum’n’bass seductions of ‘All Alone’. “White Light”, a song which really wouldn’t be out of place on a Nine Inch Nails album slaps this around the face a few times with a more rock influenced sound, and so the album continues. Song titles, track listings are irrelevant on this work of art. From the minute the brooding pop mentality of “Last Living Souls” kicks in, it immediately becomes far too easy to find yourself totally lost, absorbed if you will, in a beautifully eclectic musical experience where time, space, structure and order are abandoned in favour of uncomplicated experimentation and musical genius. Before you know it, movie legend Denis Hopper is telling you a story about “Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey’s Head” and three slabs of eccentric musical masterpieces later, and it’s all over. Indeed, the Gorillaz (That’s front man Albarn, artist Jamie Hewlett and producer DJ Danger Mouse hiding behind four cartoon characters; 2-D, Noodle, Russel and Murdoch) cram as much as they can into their second album, not just in terms of the music, but also with their guests. Everyone from Roots Manuva to Happy Mondays man Shaun Ryder make their mark here, each making their own distinct impression and adding something special to an already fantastic album. It is often said that ‘less is more’. In this case, that’s not true. The more twists and turns this album takes, the more layers and guest spots that are layered lovingly over the top of it, and the more surprises it brings make this one of the finest albums of the year so far. It’s definitely worth getting your hands on these damn dirty apes. Recommended Links: http://www.gorillaz.com – The Official Gorillaz website. |
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