Gorillaz Phase 6

In the idyllic and gentle video for ‘Désolé’, there are a couple of sharply contrasting elements of bleakness and darkness; the giant animated monsters stalking the background of the video, and the way Murdoc (the animated bassist character of the band) is shown slowly having a depressive breakdown left alone in his home while his friends enjoy a holiday jetting around a Marina without him.

In one gut-wrenching scene, the usually-blazé and emotinally-inured Murdoc is depicted crying and curled up in a fetal position on his ratty living-room sofa, forgotten. Fans of the band have been speculating heavily as ever about what this could mean for the band lore (they have a rich, madcap, fantastical fictional history) as well for the new music left to be released. Since 2001 Murdoc has been shown to be a distrustful, violent, psychotic and selfish character, incapable of remorse and uninterested in reciprocal love or companionship - why then is he now abjectly weeping in apparent loneliness?

Of particular interest; hanging on the lounge wall above the place Murdoc cries is a framed print of the album cover for THE MAGIC WHIP (2015), the last release from Blur (Damon Albarn’s original band). Could this Easter Egg possibly be a few hidden message to or about Damon’s former band? Notably, the song lyrics of ‘Désolé’ form an apology made by the singer (Damon himself, acting as the avatar character 2D), for walking out on a toxic relationship situation and for falling out of love because of emotional estrangement, and because the other party (or parties) have lied and overcomplicated matters to the point of threatening the wellbeing of Damon...

Anyone else find it hard to believe Noodle is almost 30 years old, now? The way they’ve slowly and subtly aged her body and her fashion style in animation shows incredible attention to detail, and adds a lot to the world-building. She even has a couple of little wrinkles around her eyes, noticeably wide hips and a full low bust, now.

But I still remember her as a 10-year old, and remember relating to her being a kid myself. It was genius targeting this band to kids and having one of the ‘members’ actually being a kid.

People still really exist who don’t realise that Murdoc is basically a demon amalgam of Liam Gallagher & Alex James as remembered in the confusing arousing nightmares that stalk poor Damo.

Just looking at old photos and video, it’s obvious to a blind man from poses and expressions that Murdoc is 80% Alex James (not the he of now, more when he was younger and permanently drunk).

Well lads, the redemption of that tiny bastard old-man woobie Uncle Murdy in ‘The Lost Chord’ has shattered what was left of my Millennial heart.

Meh? I was a big Blur fan. I loved the first couple of Gorillaz albums, but all of these Song Machine songs feel like... well produced sketches of songs. Solid B-sides. I don't really hear anything that rivals Dare, Clint Eastwood, Feel Good Inc, Dirty Harry, Stylo. Sorry, not trying to be one those miserable cunts who has to join a thread and tell you you're all wrong. I'm actually bummed I'm not feeling this. But I'm happy it's working for you and many others, it would seem.

Fair enough, R5. These new cuts have been far more laidback and dreampoppy than the first two albums, and I do hear the they’re less dark and tightly-put together than some might expect from Gorillaz.

YMMV, but it seems the concept art/story is becoming more entwined with the songs, which may help or hinder depending on your viewpoint. At this point in the timeline, the ‘band’ are meant to be reconciling and overcoming their shared trauma, hence perhaps the airiness of the sound and the tentative nature of the songs. 2D in particular has been trying to let go of his misgivings about Murdoc, and has apparently finally done it. I also wonder whether the change in mood is a sign of Damon getting older, relaxing into his skin, and perhaps quietly accepting his current level of success without angst. This project has been going for more than two decades, so a quiet moment is a nice respite.

The songs and videos being as they are does have me wondering if this could be the last album. ‘The Lost Chord’ in particular seems to imply that the characters have left (or rather, escaped) the familiar world they’ve been inhabiting for decades (via portal), and that the singer (whether you see him as Damon or 2D) longs for freedom—even from music that got him through the ordeal. The title-card as the video fades out even says, ‘The End’, in the way old tv cartoons & movies used to. It all feels quite final.

Both creators are getting on in age; Jamie must be tired to drawing the Gorillaz by now, and Damon has a dozen other projects he seems more interested in (including a reunited Blur). Gorillaz don’t seem to have captured the imagination of Gen Z in quite the way they did Gen Y, so the longevity of the group is also in question. As a fan I’d like Gorillaz to carry on indefinitely, but honestly I could see them winding it down and closing the book after SONG MACHINE: SEASON TWO comes out. They’re running out of gimmicks, and apparently their new stuff isn’t to everyone’s taste (which is ok, everything has a shelf-life).

In this new phase 2D wears a straight-razor around his neck with Murdoc’s name engraved on the blade. Yet there are people who don’t ship it...

Dare takes me straight back.

My favorite from this album. I love the doomy sleigh bells.

R9 the instrumentals are cool in a menacing way. Feels very PLASTIC BEACH era.

I want to like that one more, but I hate the lyrics. Sounds to me like a bad Die Antwoord cut lmao

The fact that GTA/Rockstar Games actually forced Gorillaz to reanimate their video for ‘Valley of the Pagans’ is so fucking petty.

Joke’s on them, though. The new video is better, and the band got to release the song twice which made it even more popular.

It’s so dancey, like the teenage kid of ‘19-2000’.

Maybe it’s just me, but I prefer SOUND MACHINE so much more over both HUMANZ and THE FALL (I’m still undecided about THE NOW NOW).

SOUND MACHINE feels focused, confident, and clear in a way that the recent predecessors simply don’t. There’s a lot less fuzz and (forgive the pun) noodling on this newest record than there has been coming from Gorillaz for years.

Been a fan for years, and I only learned a few months ago that the band is named Gorillaz because a ‘band’ is the collective term for a group...of gorillas.

Recently I had to explain to a kid (well, 14 year old girl..), who likes the new album but doesn’t know the band, that Gorillaz began life as a cel-animated joke.

And that, to start with, they looked and sounded like gritty trip-hop-horror band, and that their origin story was the slapsticky ordeal of a zombie-monkey infestation of their studio, nothing to do with eco-politics, Cloverfield monsters, toxic masculinity and trauma, or robot clones.

And that 2D used to be very depressed and addicted to prescription drugs, that Russ used to be normal-sized but also possessed by a malevolent demon of rap, that Murdoc used to have tan brown skin and sold his soul to the Devil on purpose (turning his skin slowly green with passing years), and that we first met Noodle as a tiny and somewhat ugly gremlin child with a shaved head not a hot pretty and leggy Japanese woman in her late-20s.

It was a weird conversation, and it made me feel about a hundred years old though I was only about 7 or 8 when 19-2000 came out. These kids have access to the whole Internet, and they don’t know their Phases 1-4 Lore from their arses.

Looking back and watching all the OG material, I’m not sure that the first 2 Phases weren’t some kind of mind-control programming for Millennials. It’s really bizarre cryptic subliminal stuff. Videos like FEEL GOOD INC. and DARE are probably seared on the brains of an entire generation, frame for frame.

R8 well, DARE written as an homage to the sound of early electronic songs played in 80s gay clubs in Manchester.

For the longest time, I thought Noodle was supposed to be a boy.

R16 it’s ok, many people did.

You had to hear her speak to be sure.

They way people take these cartoon characters so seriously is really bizarre.

I was hooked on DARE when I first heard it and it still holds up as a great track. Also love their collab with George Benson, HUMILITY, and the awesome video that came with it...

i have a shameful crush on Murdoc, especially as a puppet for some reason lol

it’s the posh eloquent voice saying such filthy trashy things. and the heterochromatix eyes

I want Ace back! I fantasize about him inside of me deeply

R18: “Gorillaz is silly and shallow meaningless entertainment for kids!”

Me:

R21 yeah, it’s too bad they gave Ace the boot, I was warming to him. POWERPUFF GIRLS is a classic for a reason.

Might have got a bit boring keeping him in Gorillaz over the loquacious and incorrigible Uncle Murdy, though, given that Ace contractually wasn’t allowed to say anything (copyright, s’a bastard), and also that he’s basically a normal decent NPC guy under the green skin and delinquency. He couldn’t do the rockstar thing justice.

Shame, though. Noodle seemed to really like Ace, and it would have been nice to watch their relationship grow.

Haw haw. Bold of R21 to assume that dear old long-departed Ace is a dominant top...

A rather stupid little blue-haired birdie has informed me otherwise. Poor chickie, s’pose I’ll have to make up for the shortcomings of Replacement....

What is it called when someone is a masochist sub sexually, but outside of physical intimacy is a bullying dominant sadist? Because that’s what Murdoc is.

Even in official art he is drawn with such slutty powerful sub energy.

What is it called when someone is a masochist sub sexually, but outside of physical intimacy is a bullying dominant sadist? Because that’s what Murdoc is.

Even in official art he is drawn with such slutty powerful sub energy.

More bottom!Murdoc vibes....

Jamie drew him like rough trade, here🤭