Humanz marks the return of Damon Albarns’ favourite bunch of alter egos Gorrilaz. After a seven year absence since releasing Plastic Trees; This will be the fifth time out for duo Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett.
This new album boast a long list of collaborators such as Noel Gallagher, De La Soul, Danny Brown, Grace Jones, Pusha T, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Benjamin Clementine.
Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)
The group of misfits return within the video of this track with a two minute segment of them settling into what appears to be a stereotypical horror movie house, before Noodle drops the hip hop driven beat which ensnares you before Popcaan’s existential dancehall style then proceeds to drag you to an unknown realm.
Ascension
Probably the most upbeat and favourite of the four tracks recently dropped, another hip hop focused piece with lyrical content of Vince Staples, taking full aim on white America “it’s the land of the free, where you can get a glock and a gram for the cheap, where you can live your dreams long as you don’t look like me…” very poignant words considering the current climate.
We’ve Got The Power
This song appears to be calling for the masses to unite with empowering lyrics like “we got the power to be loving each other no matter what happens”, seemingly trying to awaken a collective consciousness within us all, telling us “we got the power to be ringing the great bell out there above us”.
With vocals by Jehny Beth and the collaboration which we never thought would happen of Noel Gallagher featuring in the chorus, this is really an anthem for people to come together.
Andromeda
With a beat as bouncy as a space hopper, this track is reminiscent of old school Gorrliaz like “Dirty Harry” or “Feel Good Inc”. Andromeda has a fusion of something else added to it, almost as though Damon Albarn has created a delicious cocktail using ingredients from Demon Days and infusing with that of Daft Punks Discovery giving us this beautiful concoction of spacey vibes and named it Andromeda.
Full track listings for Humanz:
1. Ascension feat. Vince Staples
2. Strobelite feat. Peven Everett
3. Saturnz Barz feat. Popcaan
4. Momentz feat. De La Soul
5. Submission feat. Danny Brown and Kelela
6. Charger feat. Grace Jones
7. Andromeda feat. DRAM
8. Busted and Blue
9. Carnival feat. Anthony Hamilton
10. Let Me Out feat. Mavis Staples and Pusha T
11. Sex Murder Party feat. Jamie Principle and Zebra Katz
12. She’s My Collar feat. Kali Uchis
13. Hallelujah Money feat. Benjamin Clementine
14. We’ve Got The Power feat. Jehnny Beth
Bonus Tracks:
15. The Apprentice feat. Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Zebra Katz, and RAY BLK
16. Halfway to the Halfway House feat. Peven Everett
17. Out Of Body feat. Kilo Kish, Zebra Katz, and Imani Vonshà
18. Ticker Tape feat. Carly Simon and Kali Uchis
19. Circle of Friendz feat. Brandon Markell Holmes
Gorillaz are returning to the festival stage this summer along with headlining their own music festival in association with Red Bull called Demon Days on the 10th June.
Humanz is now available. Pre-Order/Stream it here: http://gorill.az/humanz
He discovered the gem when he was 12 years old and still has it now, claiming it to be why he fell in love with music. He likes to play disc golf when he's not writing about music. He is a one-of-a-kind individual who is always the first to bust out his air guitar on the dance-floor.