Gorillaz party on latest as world crumbles

It has been seven years since the last full length album by fictional alternative band, the Gorillaz. Their last full length album “Plastic Beach” featured many of what makes the Gorillaz unique, while still maintaining the amount of unpredictability that the Gorillaz have been known for. Now the Gorillaz have returned after their hiatus with their new full length album, “Humanz,” and they have once again redefined their genre.

“Ascension” 

Ascension is the first song on the album and opens up the overall theme. The idea is that the world is going crazy, and the only thing to do to get through it is to party. It’s generally emphasizing to not let the bad times get in the way of a good time — specifically the lyrics by Vince Staples, “Heard the world is ending soon I assumed that they told ya, they tryna dinosaur us, so now it’s time to go up” show the carefree attitude of not caring about the state of the world, or what it’s trying to do to you. You control your life, and you determine whether or not you can have fun.

“Andromeda”

“Andromeda,” alongside “ascension” was one of the four tracks released on March 23, and it plays heavily on one of the themes of the album, which is outer space. The song doesn’t have any clear, universal meaning, but Damon Albarn did mention in an interview about it having significance to him, since it is loosely written about his mother in law.

“Let me out”

“Let me out,” featuring Pusha T and Mavis Staples is essentially the embodiment of the album, as a party for the end of the world. It delves heavily into the idea of “what if Trump won the election?,” and it is important to note that the writing of this song started before the election results. The lines “Tell me there’s a chance for me to make it off the streets, tell me that I won’t die at the hands of the police” are a major hitter for controversial ideas of police brutality, and everything that has been surfacing in the past years.

“Sex Murder Party”

“Sex Murder Party” is the one song on this list that wasn’t leaked before the album’s official release, and I believe that this song can really only be described as a wild party track. It features heavy synth and strong vocals by Damon Albarn, Zebra Katz and Jamie Principles. This Is essentially the “party” part of “Party  for the end of the world.”

“We got the power”

This is possibly one of the strongest and lyrically obvious songs on the album. It is describing a world where everyone gets along and works together to achieve a common goal. It is happy, upbeat and positive, as it should be when promoting something like world peace.

“The apprentice”

“The apprentice” is the first song on the deluxe edition of the album, and shares it’s name with the reality show formerly hosted by president Trump. One common thread throughout the album is that all Trump and Obama mentionings have been bleeped out. When asked about the Trump and Obama references in the album, Albarn said, “no one was allowed to say “Trump” or “Obama.” Those who tried, you can hear the bleeps on the record where their names were. I didn’t want names because this is not about that moment. That was the fuel for it. ‘Imagine how the world will be if that happens.’”

The Gorillaz 2017 album, “Humanz” truly lives up to it’s hype of being a non-stop party album, and it delivers the daily dose of controversy mixed with media that this country needs in it’s dire state.

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