ADRIAN THRILLS: Earworm alert! Prepare to be seduced by these catchy new tunes from Gorrilaz
Gorillaz: Cracker Island (Parlophone)
Verdict: Another winner from Damon
Rating: ****
Adam Lambert: High Drama (Warner)
Verdict: Range and power
Rating: ***
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 technology.
The title track of his 2014 solo album, Everyday Robots, lamented the spectacle of city workers glued to their smartphones as they went about the daily commute.
He’s at 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 faulty dreams,’ he sings on Oil, a sumptuous duet with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks. ‘It’s a cracked screen world,’ he adds on The Tired Influencer.
It may sound like he’s biting the hand that feeds, but there’s always been a satirical edge to Gorillaz, and Albarn’s wry, dark humour is to the fore on Cracker Island — alongside some of the most seductive ear-worms and inventive dance beats he’s produced in ages.
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 technology
The title track of his 2014 solo album, Everyday Robots, lamented the spectacle of city workers glued to their smartphones as they went about the daily commute
The ten new songs here, which race by in 37 minutes, reiterate his genius as a pop songwriter.
In addition to Nicks, whose husky tones are testament to Damon’s artistic pulling power, there are other notable cameos. Rapper Bootie Brown and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker appear, and reggaeton star Bad Bunny guests on the dreamy Tormenta.
Albarn’s co-producers Greg Kurstin and Remi Kabaka Jr add percussion, bass and sun-kissed marimba.
As with most Gorillaz albums, there’s a loose concept. This one finds the band’s four fictional characters — Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D — moving from London to Silverlake, California, where they find ‘a made-up paradise where the truth is auto-tuned’. Things begin badly, with disillusionment with the cyber-world evident on Silent Running. ‘I got so lost here . . . machine assisted, I disappear,’ sings Damon. Baby Queen finds him, accompanied by a Thai princess, in a fever-dream, ‘down in the abyss where the 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 go crackers? Not quite. As the album develops, there are hints of a fresh, utopian beginning. ‘If you’re good for me, then I’m good for you, and that’s all I need in my life,’ goes the funky Tarantula, before the tale reaches an ambiguous conclusion on closing track Possession Island. ‘We are all in this together until the end,’ sings Damon, his voice intertwining beautifully with another stellar guest — Beck.
Come July, he’ll be singing about country houses and park life as one of his other bands, Blur, reunite for two huge shows at Wembley Stadium. Those 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 the boots of Freddie Mercury on last year’s Rhapsody tour with Queen. He imposed his own personality, while respecting the band’s legacy with Brian May and Roger Taylor.
His solo career, at least in the UK, is a different matter. His last solo effort, 2020’s experimental Velvet, didn’t even make the Top 50. With a spot on the judging panel of ITV’s prime-time Saturday night show Starstruck, his profile is higher than it was three years ago, and there’s greater expectation around new album High Drama.
An eclectic collection of covers, it takes the swashbuckling singer back to his days as an interpretive vocalist on talent show American Idol, where he sang hits by U2, Tears For Fears and Michael Jackson. In putting the onus on his acrobatic range and power, it’s an undoubted success, although his full-throttle delivery doesn’t leave much room for tenderness.
Adam Lambert was a revelation when he filled the boots of Freddie Mercury on last year’s Rhapsody tour with Queen
There’s great expectation around the new album High Drama. An eclectic collection of covers, it takes the swashbuckling singer back to his days as an interpretive vocalist on talent show American Idol
Like most covers 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 blustery take on Sia’s Chandelier. It’s all faintly ridiculous.
But Lambert eventually asserts his individuality with some novel arrangements. Culture Club’s Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? is transformed from breezy pop-reggae into restless electronica. Indie-rock anthem Sex On Fire, originally by Kings Of Leon, is given a falsetto-voiced makeover that channels Robyn and Prince.
The best moments are the least expected ones.
He sticks to the campfire folk feel of Pink’s My Attic and adds 1970s rock muscle to Lana Del Rey’s West Coast.
He springs a surprise, though not for Queen fans, by grafting Bohemian Rhapsody-style harmonies onto Billie Eilish’s Getting Older. It shows his versatility . . . and Eilish’s precocious songwriting talent.
BOTH albums out today.
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