Yesterday evening, everyone’s favorite non-vocaloid animated band Gorillaz dropped an announcement that had fans swirling in a bit of excitement: they’ve got a new album on the way. Titled Humanz, it’s scheduled to be released on April 28th—you know, basically a month from now. To accompany the announcement, they also shared four songs from the album, free to stream online.
Humanz is the band’s first release in a little more than six years. Their last album, The Fall, came out in December 2010. It didn’t do so hot ratings-wise, but it was also a free release shared via their website. Earlier that same year, they released Plastic Beach, which performed excellently on the charts thanks to its totally novel, artistic leanings.
One of Gorillaz’ hallmarks is their iconic visual style, which carries over into the music videos they create. Here, they’ve pushed the envelope a bit again, as they made an immersive 360-degree music video for “Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)”, which follows the band as they enter a haunted house—you know, as you do—and supernatural hijinks ensue.
Another hallmark of their music is their frequent collaboration with a huge variety of artists. For “Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)”, they teamed up with R&B/Hip-hop artist Popcaan. The other streamed releases—”We Got The Power”, “Ascension”, and “Andromeda”—each feature Jehnny Beth, Vince Staples, and D.R.A.M., respectively.
Of all of the fresh releases here, “Andromeda” is head and shoulders above the rest, personally speaking. It’s everything I’m looking for in a Gorillaz song: cryptic lyrics referring to dark yet somehow beautiful moments in time, speaking of a story that is both relatable as hell and as far out as possible, all backed by wonderfully produced beats and harmonies.
It’s incredibly difficult to try to classify Gorillaz into a specific genre, so if you’ve never listened to them before, they’re a bit hard to explain. But, really, that’s the beauty of being a Gorillaz fan: you don’t have to explain a darn thing. If you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it, you know?
And I am definitely feeling it.
(via Laughing Squid, image via screengrab)
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.
