Gorillaz’s latest studio album is a new and interesting addition to the English band’s discography. The album is very versatile and even contains lyrics in different languages such as Spanish, Arabic and Hindi. However, some of the songs were a little confusing and difficult to understand, especially for anyone not accustomed to the world of rock music.
Gorillaz, the English virtual rock group, recently released their ninth studio album, “The Mountain”, on Friday, Feb. 27. The album consisted of 15 tracks and was filled with several features on each track, including artists such as Sparks, IDLES and Mark E. Smith.
Although most of the songs did not inherently sound bad, they were a little all over the place. The rhythm and melody for most of the songs change throughout the course of the song, leaving the audience a little confused. While listening, it becomes a little challenging to understand the flow of the songs.
However, this isn’t the case for all the tracks on the album. “The Empty Dream Machine,” the seventh track on the album, is very catchy and mellow. The song’s melody is consistent and very easy to follow along with. The song features three artists: Black Thought (The Roots), Johnny Marr (The Smiths) and Anoushka Shankar.
For a person who is extremely interested in genres such as alternative rock and art pop, this album is definitely for them. This album included songs that incorporated different languages. “The Manifesto”, the seventh track on the album, features Argentine rapper Trueno and American rapper Proof of D12. This track is entertaining, but extremely hard to listen to.
The song goes on for about seven minutes, which is unnecessarily long for a song. It starts with a Latin flair, with Trueno opening the song. But halfway through the song, Proof enters the song.
His lyrics are powerful, but the entire energy of the song is shifted. Because the two rappers each bring something different, the song would be much better with only one of their verses included in the song.
The 11th track on the album, “Damascus,” was a very electronic and energetic song off the album. The song features Syrian rapper Omar Souleyman and American rapper Yasiin Bey. This specific track was recorded in different parts of the world, such as London, Devon, Mumbai, New York and Damascus, as reflected in the title.
This track is definitely one of the more “fun” songs to listen to off the album. It is upbeat and consistent, unlike a good portion of the other songs on the album. The song even features some lyrics in Arabic, which gives something unique to the song.
Another track on the album that features a different language other than English is “The Shadowy Light.” This mellow track features various artists such as Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar and Johnny Marr, and even has many lyrics written and sung in Hindi.
The song is supposed to symbolize life’s journey and give a profound message. However, as nice as the song sounds, the message is difficult to locate unless someone speaks Hindi.
“The Mountain” featured many songs that consisted of more music than lyrics. This made listening to many of the songs very frustrating because the introductions on some of them were almost a minute long.
The outros ran even longer on some of the tracks, going on for about two minutes. This does not change the quality of any of the songs but makes them a little boring for listeners who aren’t used to listening to music like this.
Gorillaz definitely takes their time when writing their songs, and it is very noticeable when listening to this album. Each song and each collaboration was very well thought out. The band traveled to many places and developed inspiration for a lot of the songs.
The instruments used in the album took part in bringing Gorillaz’ visions to life. For example, the sitar used in the final track of the album, “The Sad God”, adds a rich layer of Indian classical sound to the track.
Although “The Mountain” may not be for everyone, especially people who aren’t a large fan of alternative rock, it is a very entertaining album to listen to. Songs such as “Delirium,” “Casablanca” and “The Sweet Prince” were quite the bore, but very well-written. However, songs like “The Plastic Guru” and “The Moon Cave” were on the more entertaining side.
The album explores themes of morality, the afterlife, belief and perceptions, along with so much more, making it an inspirational album overall.
