Gorillaz: Cracker Island (Parlophone)
Verdict: Another Damon Winner
Classification: ****
Adam Lambert: High Drama (Warner)
Verdict: Range and Power
Qualification: ***
For a musician who co-created a group of computer-generated cartoon characters seemingly tailor-made for the digital age, Damon Albarn has mixed feelings about new technologies.
The title track from his 2014 solo album Everyday Robots lamented the sight of city workers glued to their smartphones as they made the daily commute.
He has done it again on his eighth album with Gorillaz, the virtual band he formed in 1998 with comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. “I put my codes in the machine, but the world I found was made of flawed dreams,” he sings on Oil, a sumptuous duet with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks.
“It’s a broken-screen world,” he adds on The Tired Influencer.
It may sound like it’s biting the hand that feeds it, but Gorillaz have always had a satirical edge, and Albarn’s wry, dark humor is at the fore on Cracker Island, along with some of the most seductive earworms and beats. of inventive dance he has produced. dwarves.
For a musician who co-created a group of computer-generated cartoon characters seemingly tailor-made for the digital age, Damon Albarn has mixed feelings about new technologies.
The title track from his 2014 solo album Everyday Robots lamented the sight of city workers glued to their smartphones as they made the daily commute.
The ten new songs here, running at 37 minutes, reiterate his brilliance as a pop songwriter.
In addition to Nicks, whose husky tones are testament to Damon’s artistic drawing power, there are other notable cameos. Appear rapper Bootie Brown and Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, and reggaeton star Bad Bunny as guests in the dreamy Storm.
Albarn’s co-producers Greg Kurstin and Remi Kabaka Jr add percussion, bass and sun-kissed marimba.
As with most Gorillaz albums, there is a vague concept. It finds the four fictional characters of the band, Murdoc, Noodle, Russell and 2D, moving from London to Silverlake, California, where they find “an invented paradise where the truth automatically tunes in.” Things start off badly, with the disillusionment with the cyber world evident in Silent Running. ‘I missed so much here. . . assisted by a machine, I disappear’, sings Damon. Baby Queen finds him, accompanied by a Thai princess, in a fever dream, “in the abyss where night never turns to daylight.”
Albarn is at it again on his eighth album with Gorillaz, the virtual band he formed in 1998 with comic book artist Jamie Hewlett.
So is Cracker Island just an island where people eat cookies? Not quite. As the album unfolds, there are hints of a utopian new beginning. “If you’re good to me, then I’m good to you, and that’s all I need in my life,” says the funky Tarantula, before the story comes to an ambiguous conclusion on the Possession Island closing theme. “We’re all in this together until the end,” Damon sings, his voice weaving beautifully with another star guest: Beck.
Come July, she’ll be singing about country houses and park life when one of her other bands, Blur, reunite for two big shows at Wembley Stadium. They will be nights of unbridled Britpop nostalgia.
But for now, his focus is on contemporary pan-global pop. And Cracker Island is well worth a visit.
Adam Lambert was a revelation when he filled Freddie Mercury’s boots on last year’s Rhapsody tour with Queen. He imposed his own personality on him, respecting the legacy of the band with Brian May and Roger Taylor.
His solo career, at least in the UK, is something else. His latest solo effort, 2020’s experimental Velvet, didn’t even crack the Top 50. With a spot on the judging panel of ITV’s primetime Saturday night show Starstruck, his profile is higher than it was three years ago. years, and there is a greater expectation. around the new album High Drama.
An eclectic collection of covers, it takes the intrepid singer back to his days as an interpretive vocalist on the American Idol talent show, where he sang hits by U2, Tears For Fears and Michael Jackson. Putting the onus on his acrobatic range and power, he’s an undoubted success, though delivering him at top speed doesn’t leave much room for cuteness.
Adam Lambert was a revelation when he filled Freddie Mercury’s boots on last year’s Rhapsody tour with Queen.
There is great expectation around the new album High Drama. An eclectic collection of covers that takes the intrepid singer back to his days as a performing vocalist on the American Idol talent show.
Like most cover albums, it’s a mixed bag. It opens with two over-the-top bursts of bombast: a glam-rock version of Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out For A Hero and a tempestuous version of Sia’s Chandelier. It’s all a bit ridiculous.
But Lambert finally asserts his individuality with some novel arrangements. Culture Club Do you really want to hurt me? morphs from upbeat pop-reggae to restless electronica. Indie-rock anthem Sex On Fire, originally by Kings Of Leon, gets a makeover with falsetto vocals channeling Robyn and Prince.
The best moments are the least expected.
It sticks to the campfire folky feel of Pink’s My Attic and adds ’70s rock muscle to West Coast Lana Del Rey.
It gives a surprise, though not for Queen fans, by grafting Bohemian Rhapsody-esque harmonies onto Billie Eilish’s Getting Older. Show your versatility. . . and Eilish’s precocious talent for songwriting.
BOTH albums are out today.