Gorillaz Battle ‘Demon Days’ On New Album
Cartoon quartet Gorillaz will on May 24 release its sophomore Virgin album, “Demon Days.” A video is in production for first single “Feel Good Inc.,” featuring De La Soul. Album track “Dirty Harry,” which features what sounds like a children’s choir, has been making the rounds on the Internet for several weeks.
The brainchild of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and “Tank Girl” creator Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz comprises the characters Noodle, Murdoc, 2-D, and Russell who inhabit a virtual world on Gorillaz.com.
The 15-track “Demon Days” is the follow-up to Gorillaz’s worldwide smash self-titled debut, which has sold more than 1.54 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and six million worldwide, according to Virgin.
Accurately described as “darker” and “more intense” than its predecessor, but no less eclectic, the album was co-produced by Albarn and Danger Mouse. “Last Living Souls” is marked by acoustic strumming and piano melodies, while “Kids With Guns” threads a sample of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” through a multi-faceted musical backdrop.
The collective puts a weird spin on seductive soul with “Every Planet We Reach Is Dead,” while “White Light” starts off in similar territory as Blur’s raucous “Song 2” before being interrupted by an angelic interlude. For an extra dash of oddness, actor Dennis Hopper offers spoken-word intonations atop “Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head.”
The London Community Gospel Choir can be heard on the title track, while guest spots by rock legend Ike Turner, the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and underground rapper MF Doom are sprinkled throughout other cuts.
Here is the track list for “Demon Days”:
“Intro”
“Last Living Souls”
“Kids With Guns”
“O Green World”
“Dirty Harry”
“Feel Good Inc.”
“El Manana”
“Every Planet We Reach Is Dead”
“November Has Come”
“All Alone”
“White Light”
“DARE”
“Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head”
“Don’t Get Lost in Heaven”
“Demon Days”
Categories