Album Reviews: Gorillaz, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

By Resonate | November 13, 2020

Words by Finch Evans

Since I heard news of Gorillaz seventh studio album, I was curious to see the results of their new approach to creating music. Far from the expansive, concept-driven experiences of Demon Days or Plastic Beach, creator Damon Albarn was clear from the beginning that Song Machine would function more as a collection of singles. How would this record fair without an overarching concept driving the narrative of the songs?

When I heard Song Machine I was greeted by an immaculate set of songs. Synth pop, post punk, dub and grime all play a part in this musical potpourri, all seasoned with crisp, punchy pop production; there wasn’t a moment in this album I wasn’t nodding my head. The French-language Dèsolè and bouncy and energetic Momentary Bliss are some of the highlights in an album naturally punctuated with stellar cameos. Legacy heroes like Robert Smith, Peter Hook and even Elton John rub shoulders with contemporary stars Slaves, Slowthai and Kano, as well as relative unknowns such as 6LACK and Roxani Arias.

Song Machine does, however, suffer from its concept. The idea of every song being its own individual entity combined with the sheer range of sounds on the album makes the experience more like shuffling through a Spotify playlist than a full cohesive work. On the second listen I found myself discovering entire songs I hadn’t heard the first time round as they were buried by their neighbours. The lack of a structured arc present on traditional albums means each song is fighting for your attention and as a result there are little attention grabbing moments to supplement the usual troughs.

7/10

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