Gorillaz - The Fall

Wed 25th May, 2011 in Music Reviews

The Fall is the latest effort from boundary-pushing Damon Albarn project Gorillaz. Recorded on a North American tour between Montreal and Vancouver over a 32 day period in late 2010, the record sees Albarn continuing the colourful, ‘outside-the-box’ melange of styles and influences that have elevated his Gorillaz project to both critical and commercial heights, but scaling down the head-nodding pop aspect to present us with an intimate, introspective and at times exquisite offering.

A follow up to last year’s brilliant Plastic Beach, The Fall was speculated by some to be Albarn’s final release under the Gorillaz moniker (though it is now considered highly unlikely that this will be the case). The running order of The Fall bears more resemblance to that of a compilation rather than an actual studio album – the tracks appear here in chronological order, enhancing the touring/journeying aspect of the record. Each track holds an inextricable connection to a particular place – unsurprisingly, Detroit, The Snake in Dallas, Amarillo, Bobby In Phoenix and Seattle Yodel were recorded in Detroit, Dallas, Amarillo, Phoenix and Seattle respectively.

Opener Phoner To Arizona is an ominous, minimalist piece, building up an undercurrent of tension that runs throughout the album. The lush Revolving Doors is driven by a steady 808 beat and an emotive Albarn vocal that sees him at his most soulful, while the subtle Arabic inflections in the instrumentation recall those of his most famous project Blur’s final record Think Tank. The similarly melancholic ‘HillBilly Man’ showcases tender acoustic guitar work in its opening section before metamorphosing into the drum machine and electronic brass combination that was a hallmark of Plastic Beach. The instrumental mid-tempo bounce of Detroit lopes along while a series of blips and beeps pop in and out of the mix, before the down-tempo and crestfallen Shy-Town shifts the dynamic once again.

The dark soundscapes of Little Pink Plastic Bags continue the atmosphere developed by _Shy-Town_’, and also evoke the post-apocalyptic ambiance of Vangelis’ Blade Runner soundtrack. The digital glitch of The Joplin Spider wears its rave and 8-bit chiptune influences on its sleeve, sounding somewhat akin to an arcade game gone wrong while retaining a significant Zoolook-era Jean-Michel Jarre vibe. The crackling AM-radio Americana that opens The Parish Of Space Dust is contrasted by the wistful fairground-like procession that unfolds further along in the track, while the backing instrumentation of The Snake In Dallas is vaguely reminiscent of jungle or dubstep, coupled with the now-trademark Gorillaz brass and synth sounds occupying the upper echelons of the mix. Amarillo is a shimmering, downcast electro-ballad, featuring another mournful vocal from Albarn, and the strange, experimental The Speak It Mountains provides an interesting counterpoint.

Aspen Forest is a slice of instrumental minimalism, once again featuring simple yet effective drum machine beats and digital beeps, but this time incorporating a forlorn piano melody. The electro-country departure Bobby In Phoenix features the vocal talents of recent collaborator Bobby Womack, and the track somehow works as a breathtakingly original melange of electronic, country, soul and acoustic styles. California And The Slipping Of The Sun opens with a train station announcement before Albarn’s crackly, echoed vocals arrive amidst a spaced-out, underwater dynamic. The track concludes with a short, beat-driven section which leads into the brief, off-the-wall closer, Seattle Yodel.

Like Plastic Beach, The Fall is a seemingly endless melting pot of varied influences that somehow combines to form a palatable and unmistakeably contemporary end result – the Gorillaz world is one where Brazilian tropicalia guitars can comfortably sit alongside Casio-tone hip-hop beats, soul vocals and thick Rastafari dub basslines and yet still sound like everything is just right. Though nothing here is nearly as instant or catchy as the material from Plastic Beach, which undoubtedly benefited from a number of high profile collaborations (though this record sees small guitar and bass contributions from Clash pair Mick Jones and Paul Simonon on HillBilly Man and Aspen Forest respectively, as well as an appearance from Bobby Womack), The Fall is an excellent effort considering the circumstances under which it was made.

Vastly different to Plastic Beach in terms of its sparse production, languid, lugubrious feel and mournful subject matter, this record is driven more by dub and blues sensibilities than any previous Gorillaz work, and shows a different side to Albarn that we perhaps haven’t seen since the days of Blur’s Think Tank or moments of the self-titled The Good, The Bad and The Queen record. This record could at times be construed as difficult when juxtaposed with the radio-ready songs of Plastic Beach, but it is ultimately rewarding as a creative vision, an embodiment of the sense of inwardness and desolation felt during life on tour. But most importantly, The Fall is just enough to satisfy fans hungry for new material while whetting their appetite for something more. It would be a shame if Albarn were to disband Gorillaz now, as he clearly still has a lot to offer.