A few decades ago, anyone who predicted that one of 2017’s most hotly-anticipated releases would be recorded by a fictional cartoon band run by two British men detailing the gradual downfall of society to the tune of synthy electro-pop beats would have been laughed out faster than they could say “Sublime” or “JNCO jeans.” Despite the absurdity of its premise, Gorillaz has become one of the most influential and defining bands of the 2000s, with smash pop hits like “Feel Good Inc.” and “Clint Eastwood” still seeing radio play today.
Though the group may vary in instrumental style and production between albums, Gorillaz has maintained a quite straightforward formula for its commercial LPs since the animated outfit began in 1998. The group lays down a smattering of gradually intensifying instrumentals in the new album’s flavor, allowed lead singer Damon Albarn to croon about gloominess and societal disillusion for a while and bring in a heap of famous collaborators for Albarn to produce and back up — the hits write themselves. The strategy allows each album ample room to create an engrossing experience while still ensuring its singles will dominate pop charts for years to come, thanks to the big name artists involved.
With a past collaborator list including the likes of Lou Reed and Mos Def, as well as a Metacritic career average over 70, it's no secret that Gorillaz wants nothing more than to keep this formula chugging along for as long as possible. However, with the release of “Humanz,” it seems like the group may have finally pushed its hit machine to its limits.
At its surface, “Humanz” doesn’t seem like it should have any trouble at all settling nicely into the lauded central discography of Gorillaz. It has a features list boasting the likes of Danny Brown, Vince Staples and D.R.A.M. laid over club-friendly electronic beats crafted especially for them by Albarn, who occasionally interjects for hooks or bridges. While that phrase may seem to be entirely positive, it also outlines the album’s greatest problem — a glut of collaborators.
“Humanz” doesn’t just let in a handful of carefully chosen features to beef up the usually Albarn-dominated tracklists like its preceding albums have. Rather, “Humanz” is completely dominated by its features, with only a single track — excluding skit interludes — not featuring another artist’s performance. On nearly every track, Albarn and the sound of Gorillaz takes a backseat to another performer, merely lurking in the background or occasionally popping in for a brief moment.
The end result is an album that feels far more like a playlist than a cohesive body. In no way is this disparaging the actual tracks themselves, as “Humanz” features some absolutely amazing moments such as the synthy space odyssey “Andromeda,” or the mad-sprint banger that is “Ascension.” However, when a group as enormously respected and beloved as Gorillaz reforms after a seven-year hiatus to drop a massive hour-long album out of nowhere, the expectation is that the album remains true to the group’s original sounds like it was created by Gorillaz — not like a collaborative playlist.
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