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 Not content with fronting one of the biggest
Britpop acts of the 90s or re-inventing the wheel with the innovative
clash of music and media that is Gorrillaz, Damon Albarn has spread his
wings once again to take the helm of his new super-group, The Good, The
Bad & The Queen.
Joining forces with The Clash’s former bassist, Paul Simonon, ex ‘Verve
guitarist Simon Tong, Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen on drums and
roping Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse (who also worked on Gorrillaz’s
last effort) to handle production duties, Albarn has created an album
that is a million miles away from the former Blur singer’s old stomping
grounds, yet at the same time sounds like a true labour of love and a
homage to his own influences.
It’s hard for us to imagine the man who once leapt about the place,
bellowing in a cockney accent in the video for ‘Parklife’ now
transforming himself into some sort of serious musical virtuoso, but
over the last few years, that’s certainly what seems to have happened.
And whilst fans of Albarn, the musician who moulds genres in his own
image and bends convention with ease, may be impressed with his latest
offering, it’s quite possible that those whose tastes were tickled with
his previous pop-infused commercial releases might not be so taken this
time around.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen, the super-group’s self-titled album, is
like a panoramic view across a country struggling to come to terms with
who it is and reminiscing on what it once hoped to be, all set to a
disparate soundtrack of woeful melodies, tingling guitar and a fistful
of fever.
There’s something strangely magnetic about this album; traces of dub are
lapped up by soothing acoustic guitar and smacked about by some
insatiable hooks, whilst liquid grooves slide amongst with discretion.
All the while, Albarn waxes poetical about the state of the nation on
what, by all rights, should be a dreary, unattainable record, but is
actually a sweet, peculiar collection of divergent soundscapes that not
only sums up life in Modern Britain almost perfectly, but also affirms
Albarn’s status as the one of the few true stars to emerge from the era
that was Britpop.
Recommended Links:
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www.thegoodthebadandthequeen.com
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http://www.myspace.com/thegoodthebadandthequeen
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