Most compelling is ‘Hallelujah Money’ which, airing to coincide with Trump’s Presidential inauguration in January, was orphaned for being insufficiently Gorillaz-y. Later, the producer edited out references to The Donald. When he commenced the enterprise, Albarn encouraged co-writers to speculate about what might happen the night Trump was declared President, never imagining that his unbeautiful dark twisted fantasy would be fulfilled. Even more unexpected, Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn is the album’s disembodied narrator.Īlbarn has touted Humanz as a Trumpocalypse album – Gorillaz partying like it’s… 2017. Insanely, Carly Simon – do yourself a favour and seek her cult ’80s Chic-produced hit ‘Why’ – merely features on the Deluxe bonus ‘Ticker Tape’. Much of the buzz surrounding this fifth album concerns its fire guest roster – spanning acts both heritage (Gorillaz regulars De La Soul, Grace Jones, Mavis Staples) and, unprecedentedly, hipster (Vince Staples, Danny Brown, Kelela).
Humanz shouldn’t be compared to past forays but considered in the context of today’s shifting pop scene. But, then, he and Hewlett committed to rebooting Gorillaz over drinks. The unflagging Albarn presented a solo album, Everyday Robots, and facilitated Blur’s comeback. Albarn and Hewlett reportedly had creative differences. Nonetheless, the band’s future appeared murky when in 2011 a “greatest hits” surfaced. Crucially, because of Albarn’s involvement, Gorillaz wasn’t dismissed as a novelty. The cartoony Major Lazer owe Gorillaz big-time. Gorillaz revived the careers of De La Soul (the hit ‘Feel Good Inc’) and Bobby Womack (‘Stylo’ with Mos Def). Plastic Beach followed the same paradigm, with Snoop Dogg, Little Dragon and Lou Reed. It was with the blockbuster Demon Days that Gorillaz’ all-star cameos became their trademark – Neneh Cherry, Ike Turner and Shaun Ryder down for the ride. Indeed, the star of their 2001 eponymous debut was Cali MC Del The Funky Homosapien on ‘Clint Eastwood’. Gorillaz, too, have made curation an art form. But it’s also common in dance music, with Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx all enlisting vocalists weird ‘n’ wonderful. The ‘collab’ has long been customary in hip-hop, simultaneously repping legit creative exchange and astute cross-marketing.
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