Humanz (Deluxe)
Uncertain times and an unruly squad of new collaborators set the table for the most dazzling Gorillaz album yet. It’s a white-knuckle joyride that sees Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s virtual band dart down fresh electronic avenues—tracks are darker, lyrics explicitly politicized and the collaborators more inspired. Arming “Let Me Out” with Mavis Staples and Pusha T provides an electrifying highlight, Savages’ Jehnny Beth lends a fluorescent rallying cry to “We Got the Power”, while Benjamin Clementine is a legitimately haunting presence on the hymnal “Hallelujah Money”.
Vince Staples, Danny Brown, Kelela, and Pusha T all star on the fifth album from Damon Albarn’s cartoon crew, another gloomy party playlist for the end of the world.
The key anecdote to know about the Gorillaz’s fifth record is this: Way back in 2015, when Damon Albarn was attempting to get his huge slate of collaborators on board with his vision of a hellish American dystopia, he asked them to imagine the country after something catastrophic had occurred, with the hypothetical…
Gorillaz’s fifth album is a star-studded and political dose of hope and fear set in a freaky, amorphous nightmare
Damon Albarn’s cartoon pop band brings guests from across the pop spectrum to prove once again why they’re the most interesting rap-rock crossover act ever.
Gorillaz' new album Humanz voices anxieties, ideas, instructions, and questions both familiar and unfamiliar to the global citizen of 2017.
There are many reasons why Gorillaz are a fascinating band, foremost of which is the way they skirt the question of identity.
Gorillaz' fifth album was intended to be a dystopian fiction. Damon Albarn envisioned a future in which America would suffer a disaster so seismic
Gorillaz’s on-trend party album brings reassuring strangeness and a clever use of collaborators, but little real-world clout
Gorillaz's fifth album 'Humanz' is the cartoon band's most disparate yet, featuring an impressing cast guests, including Vince Staples and Grace Jones.
Throughout, Damon Albarn effectively weaves together his guests’ ostensibly disparate styles.
While exhausted from the Britpop hangover that both he and his band Blur were desperate to escape, Damon Albarn devised the concept of a virtual band with...
Review of Gorillaz 'Humanz' the band eturn with a huge but constantly impressive record that will surprise and likely delight. Gorillaz play FEQ 2017.
Covering everything from mental health to military interventions, Damon Albarn and his celebrity friends deliver an inspired party album for a world gone mad
Damon Albarn's latest adventure is ripe with ear-wakening inventiveness. CD new music review by Thomas H Green