While the Demon Days are long behind us and the sandy shores of the Plastic Beach have long left the sights of our rear view mirrors, Gorillaz are starting to pump out some phenomenal music once again, for the first time in quite a long while.
Humanz didn’t move me in the slightest and The Now Now felt hollow. But with the latest release The Mountain—releasing tomorrow Friday, Feb. 27 via Kong Records—the good old days feel closer than ever.
Gorillaz have returned with a 15-track LP alongside a slew of incredible talent all the way from Johnny Marr and IDLES, to the return of Dennis Hopper and Bobby Womack, and what we get is an incredibly well-rounded album that expands upon everything that has made Gorillaz so unique for nearly three long decades.
The world music vibes, the hip-hop, the transcendental energy is all present on The Mountain. This being said, it’s not track for track, but it’s a stark contrast to the lackluster records of recent years and feels like a massive call back to peak-era Gorillaz.
Massive beats, Damon Alburns semi jarring croon, and a star studded list of both Gorillaz Alumni and newcomers help make this record what it is. It dances around disco, it pulls from all corners of the world and manages to be a smooth amalgamation; a sonic adventure around the globe.
This feels like Gorillaz at their absolute fullest in the better part of a decade and a half. I couldn’t have expected a better record from a band I’d fallen out of touch with for so long.
The Mountain has something for fans of all ages and all eras. While it may not be perfection, it certainly is pretty damn close.
Rating
3.4/5
Favorite Tracks
“Orange County”
“Casablanca”
Tracklist
1. The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
2.The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought)
3. The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks)
4. The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen)
5. Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)
6. The God of Lying (feat. IDLES)
7. The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
8. The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof)
9. The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
10. Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith)
11. Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey)
12. The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
13. Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr)
14. The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 15. The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
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