On 2017's
Humanz
,
Damon Albarn
returns to
Gorillaz
after a seven-year hiatus -- a period when he busied himself with two operas, a solo album, and a
Blur
reunion -- and reconnects with the collaborative instincts that drove the band's first two albums.
Plastic Beach
-- the 2010 album that served as the group's last major opus (
The Fall
, released just months later, was that LP's bittersweet coda) -- found
Albarn
stepping toward the center stage but on
he recedes, giving his collaborators the spotlight and softening whatever complicated narrative he and illustrator
Jamie Hewlett
devised for their cartoon group's fourth phase. Maybe this is why
feels wild and unruly in a way
never did: the emphasis is on the individual cuts, not the grand concept. Some themes are woven throughout the record -- there's a political undercurrent, although the upheavals of
Trump
and Brexit are never addressed directly; there's a heavy reliance on R&B and hip-hop -- but the album seems pleasingly scattershot as it bounces from guest to guest. Its messiness suits the digital era, when it's possible to swipe from style to style without a second thought, but
isn't haphazard.
deliberately sculpts each cut, giving plenty of space for
Vince Staples
Grace Jones
Danny Brown
Anthony Hamilton
Mavis Staples
Pusha T
, and longtime
mainstay
De La Soul
to roam. That list of guest artists underscores how
feels connected to soul in a way
didn't, but with its careening, carnivalesque hooks and skeletal
2-Tone
spook -- not to mention how the whole thing is anchored on "Busted and Blue," a
Damon
solo track that could've slid onto
Everyday Robots
-- it's clearly an
project. But even with its heavy, heavy R&B vibe and roiling politics,
feels strangely uplifting, as if every musician who entered the studio found solace in the act of creation. That's why "We Got the Power" -- a collaboration with
Savages
singer
Jehnny Beth
and
's onetime rival
Noel Gallagher
-- is such a fitting closer: in dark times, it finds hope and inspiration in the power of the collective, which is a testament to what
intends to do with
. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine