Rolling Stone Australia — July 2017

14 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com July, 2017

R&R

CHECKING IN

‘Y

ou should have

seen the grin on my

face,” Damon Albarn

says, flashing another

one in his New York hotel room.

Thesingerisrecallingasession

inChicagowithgospel-soulleg-

endMavisStaplesforHumanz,

thenewalbumofmultiple-guest

electro-popcreditedtoAlbarn’s

cartoon-figure quartet, Gorillaz.

Staplesisthevocalsirencutting

through the hip-hop apocalypse

of“LetMeOut”.Albarn–who

foundedGorillazwithillustrator

Jamie Hewlett nearly 20 years

ago–sayshewas“abitself-

conscious” with Staples. “I was

like,‘Theselyrics...isshegoing

to?’Itwasareliefwhenshesat

downandstartedsinging.”

“Youdon’tseetheorganicside

becausetheyaresuchelectronic

records,”AlbarnsaysofGoril-

laz’ four hit albums, which in-

cludetwoU.S.Top10s–2005’s

Demon Daysand 2010’sPlastic

Beach– and memorable cam-

eosbySnoopDoggandnow-

departediconsDennisHopper,

Bobby Womack and Lou Reed.

In artwork, videos and digital

media, Gorillaz are fronted by

Hewlett’savatars:2-D,Mur-

doc, Noodle and Russel Hobbs.

But the music, as Albarn says

ofHumanz,is “about human

beings communicating with

each other”.

Humanzthrows modern-R&B t t

such as American rapper Zebra Katz and

Jamaican DJ Popcaan next to vintage idols

like Staples and Grace Jones, sometimes in

thesameframe.“WeGotthePower”,the

album’s chrome-Ramones finish, features

singer Jehnny Beth of the English band

Savages with Albarn’s former Brit-pop foe,

ex-OasisguitaristNoelGallagher.“Ticker

Tape”,onthedeluxeedition,pairstheLat-

in-hip-hop singer Kali Uchis with Carly

Simon.Albarn’swritingisindarkerhues,

hatched during Britain’s swing to the right

with Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presiden-

tial campaign. “Ticker Tape” revisits “that

fatal night last year”, Albarn says of Donald

when they started Gorillaz in 1998 as

a smackdown of manufactured boy

bands. “They weren’t put together very

well,” says Hewlett, who broke big with

hiscomic-bookavengerTankGirlas

Albarn was hitting stardom with Blur.

“We thought if you manufacture some-

thing,ithastobefuckingcool.”Today,

Hewlett films all of Albarn’s recording

dates and hears every song iteration as

he develops visual counterparts.

Albarn can be “notoriously difficult”

ith collaborators, Hewlett says, “[even]

ostile.Itdependsonwhetherhere-

spects that person.” But Hewlett cites

the encounter with Staples as “one thing

Damon is always good at. When he has an

artist in the studio, he knows how to get

them into it.”

“I just don’t think I can’t do anything,”

Albarn says firmly. “I don’t have those

kind of doubts.” He’ll take Gorillaz on the

road this year, hoping to bring as many

ofHumanz’sguestsaspossible.“I’ve

seen a lot of the world through music,”

headds.“Musiciansaregenerallyquite

fun. When you get musicians together

with a bit of weed or wine or whatever, ter-

riblethingshappen.”Albarnlaughs.“Ter-

ribly wonderful.”

Trump’svictory,as“amoonlitticker-tape

procession, in total silence”. “Sex Murder

Party”wasinspiredbyastoryintheLon-

don Evening Standardaboutakillingata

party attended by, the paper reported, “Af-

rican-origin people.” “I was like, ‘We gotta

writeasongaboutthis’,”Albarnsays.

Albarn and Hewlett, both 49, were

working in London studios one floor apart

“If you manufacture

something,ithastobe

fuckingcool,”saysHewlett.

DEMON DAYS

Above: Gorillaz’s

Russel Hobbs, Noodle,

2-D, Murdoc (from

left). Left: Albarn

(right), Hewlett.

Gorillaz Rave to the Apocalypse

Damon Albarn’s cartoon crew returns with a dark, wildly

eclectic album hatched amid Trump and Brexit

BY DAVID FRICKE

FROM TOP: JAMIE HEWLETT; LINDA BROWNLEE