The follow up you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. In 2000 when the Gorillaz hit the scene, myself, like many others, had no idea what to make of them: a bunch of cartoons with the guy from Blur doing vocals, weird. Then in 2005 Demon Days landed and everything I thought about this band changed. Where Demon Days was a dark, album blending in a ton of music styles and guests, Plastic Beach keeps the blend but moves the party along.
Guests for this album include: Snoop Dogg, Kano, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. It sounds crazy, but that is what makes this amazing.
The album is a big environmental statement about the times, but it feels like those cartoon monkeys escaped the volcanic eruption of the previous album and have been lounging on a beach since 2005. Snoop’s opening raps on “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach” are pretty inviting, and it doesn’t stop after that. Songs like “Stylo”, “Sweepstakes”, “Superfast Jellyfish”, and “White Flag” will get you moving. Slower songs like “Broken”, “Plastic Beach”, “Cloud of Unknowing” and “Rhinestone Eyes” are also thought provoking.
This album isn’t upbeat and happy, oh no, it still has sad themes all over the place, but the way Damon Albarn and company mix it all up is fantastic. This record is just as ambitious as Demon Days, but it might be more playful. If the Gorillaz were not on your radar previously, book a flight to the beach.
