Gorillaz – Song Machine (Season 1) (2020)
Virtual band Gorillaz are back with a new release Song Machine (Season 1): Strange Timez featuring numerous artists such as Robert Smith, Moonchild Sanelly, Beck, Elton John and many more.
The first track ‘Strange Timez’ (featuring Robert Smith) is a great way to kick off the album. It has great synth sounds throughout the song. Robert’s voice throughout the song is amazing and complements Damon’s perfectly – it has a very 80s yet modern feel. The track ‘The Valley Of The Pagans’ (featuring Beck) has an amazing beat and Beck’s vocals are amazing. The chorus is very catchy. He sings about feeling good about being in control and having a perfect soul. Damon’s voice is amazing; it has a great bassline and great synth sounds. The track ‘The Lost Chord’ (featuring Leee John) is a very gentle song, very slow beat with gentle vocals from Damon and Lee. It has a great bass line and great guitar riffs and the backing vocals are amazing.
‘Chalk Tablet Towers’ (featuring St Vincent) starts with a great beat then Damon’s voice kicks in. His voice and the lyrics are great. He sings about addiction and how he wants to give it up, but at the same time wants it so bad. He sings about wanting to get drunk and get high. He sings about wanting someone so bad but he won’t be back till the end of summer and wants the person to wait for him. The track ‘The Pink Phantom’ (featuring Elton John and 6lack) has gentle piano keys that ascend into a great bassline along with vocals from Damon, Elton, Damon and 6lack. Their vocals all blend together so perfectly despite all being a very different artist.
‘Dead Butterflies’ (featuring Kano and Roxani Arias) is a very slow and gentle song and it’s got very heartfelt lyrics. Damon’s voice just glides smoothly through the song. It has a Latin spin to it from singer Roxani and also features some rap from Kano. The track ‘Severed Head’ (featuring Goldlink and Unknown Mortal Orchestra) has awesome guitar riffs at the start along with a great drum beat. It has a great bassline and Damon’s vocals are amazing. The rap from Goldlink is great and it’s extremely catchy.
‘With Love To An Ex’ (featuring Moonchild Sanelly) has an extremely heavy bassline and sounds absolutely amazing. Moonchild Sanellys vocals are great and it’s got a very catchy chorus. She sings about how all of her exes are trying to contact her. It’s has a very demonic voice at 1:16 which sounds great but very eerie at the same time. It’s a great song to chill out to. ‘How Far’ (featuring Tony Allen and Skepta) has great raps from Skepta. It’s got a great beat and heavy bassline. It’s a great song with very interesting lyrics about life in general.
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