Anyone who has being paying attention will have noticed that the hiatus between each Gorillaz album is often fairly big. Between each release, the fandom is left wondering what the band is gonna look, sound and act like. But in 2018 something strange happened…we got another album. Only one year on from Humanz, we were greeted with The Now Now and I’m so happy that we were.
When asked why he recorded another album in such a short time, Damon Albarn replied that he made it so that his band had new material to play on the second leg of the Humanz world tour. Usually I would be against such a quick production time and such a simple reason of making an album (especially with Gorillaz),but I have to say, I was not disappointed in the slightest. What we got was the most personal, intimate and sonically consistent album that Gorillaz have ever made. There’s no big theme or idea holding this album up. Instead each song details another little part of Damon’s psyche whilst he was touring and making this album quite literally about what is going on right now (aka. The “Now Now”) . Songs like Kansas and Magic City show Albarn at his most vulnerable and the line “I’m not gonna cry, I’ve got more time to give” never ceases to get me a little bit emotional. Other songs like Fire Flies still manage to capture the grandness that may have been lost without a grand theme to sing about and what we get is a tremendously depressing yet somehow inspirational ballad.
But the album isn’t all doom and gloom. Songs like Humility, Hollywood, Sorcererz and the instrumental track Lake Zurich are light, bouncy and all feature baselines that drive the groovey melodies forward. In fact whilst I’m talking about the instrumentals, it has to be said that despite the fact that this album was written on the move whilst Gorillaz were touring, none of the songs feel empty at all which is something that this albums spiritual predecessor The Fall failed to achieve. Even after months of listening to it, I’m still finding new and interesting additions made to each song.
One major point that has to be made though is the amount of features this album has (or lack-there-of). Again, if you’ve been paying attention, features are almost integral to the Gorillaz way of making music and whether due to the restrictions of being recorded on the road or the sever back-lash Damon received for the amount of artists on the band’s last record, there really aren’t that many. Not to say that those who are on the album don’t leave an impression on the listener however, Snoop Dogg gives another stellar performance and so does Jaime Principle who -in my opinion- gives a better performance on Hollywood than he did on Sex Murder Party. Overall, I think the lack of features doesn’t hinder the album in anyway, but I do think maybe one or two more may have made it a slight bit better.
Finally, I give special mention to the last song on this album. After the hauntingly eerie One Percent, the album closes with what is perhaps one of the most beautiful songs in Gorillaz discography, Souk Eye. It starts off simple with a repeating guitar rift, some quiet percussion and some synthesised vocals. After being serenaded by Damon’s adorably sweet vocals “Why you looking so beautiful to me now when you’re so sad?”, the song gives way to a thumping, pulsing beat that breaths new life into the song, but still keeps that innocence from the beginning. And as the song begins to fade out, a piano loop plays us out to the end of the album. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
Whilst I haven’t quite decided where on my rankings The Now Now fits, it is definitely on my albums of the year list and for good reason. Grand ideas and themes can be fun but sometimes its the small and personal side to Damon/2-D that intrigues me the most.
Music Worth Hearing 