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Even having Staples on Humanz is more prescient in terms of guest collaborators than the band has been previously. 2D starts his verse by mentioning the attack on Iraq, while Staples discusses police brutality, racial inequality, and Obama. Both in terms of collaboration and worldview, Gorillaz tends to exist in its own universe, but “Ascension” blurs those lines in a big way for the first time in the band’s career. But Vince Staples’ phenomenal verses hint at a level of debauchery reserved for the end of the world, one last party before it all comes crashing down. Both songs show a newfound political leaning in Gorillaz’ music, allusions to the world ending and even an oddly placed SpongeBob Squarepants reference. The opening track to Gorillaz’ upcoming fifth album Humanz, “Ascension” features plenty of similarities to the first single “Hallelujah Money,” but in a more urgent, catchy and fast-paced package. This might explain the simplistic orchestration and mostly nonsense lyrics, but together Albarn and Zhen craft an elegant track that sounds like it could soundtrack the sun setting during the apocalypse. Originally released on the compilation Help!: A Day in the Life, produced by the charity organization War Child, each artist had only 30 hours to finish their songs before the album was released. Primarily backed by a gorgeous Chinese zither played by Zeng Zhen, “Hong Kong” is sparse and fragile, a complete shift from the Demons Days era in which it was released.
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But in “Hong Kong,” Albarn pushes his voice further than he ever does as 2D. When Albarn performs as Gorillaz frontman 2D, he gives the animated character a listless, lazy delivery. The only song on this list that doesn’t sound like anything ou’d expect from Gorillaz, “Hong Kong” is basically just a Damon Albarn solo track under the Gorillaz moniker. So as we bide our time until Humanz comes out April 28, and look forward to nearly 20 years of Gorillaz being a “band,” here are their 10 best songs so far. And with a list of collaborators including Vince Staples, Mavis Staples, Carly Simon, Jenny Beth of Savages and Grace Jones, Humanz is becoming one of the most anticipated releases of the year.
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In January, Gorillaz released “Hallelujah Money,” the first song from their forthcoming fifth album Humanz, ending their seven year silence as a band. And, yet, they kind of don’t actually exist. With their creation, Gorillaz became one of the most interesting and captivating bands in recent history. The melancholy eyeball-less 2D serves as the lead singer, the depraved monster Murdoc Niccals plays bass, the teenage prodigy Noodle shreds on guitar and the size-changing Russel Hobbs is the possessed drummer. As a result, Gorillaz includes four animated characters that exist within their own entire animated world. Created in 1998 by Blur’s Damon Albarn and Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz was always more than just a band: They were an art project that allowed both Albarn and Hewlett to experiment with the idea of a virtual musical group.