2023 MUSIC REVIEW: Gorillaz 'CRACKER ISLAND'

GORILLAZ – ‘CRACKER ISLAND’
Release Date: 02/24/23
(PARLOPHONE/WARNER MUSIC)

The British virtual-band who are vets of uniquely blending electro, rock, jazz, hip-hop, & pop music, make their post-Covid return & this 8th album's said to be heavily influenced by coastal Latin America during their latest world tour.  Although a handful of the 1st few guests scream Los Angeles (Thundercat, Stevie Nicks, the Pharcyde, Beck), I really do dig the opening title track’s energy.  Catchy, creative, & thrives on Thundercat's buzzy funk basslines & adlibs, introducing us to the idea of a cult paradise island of refreshing enlightened music but you cannot leave & will die here.  2nd single "New Gold" flexes a catchy hook & Pharcyde's Bootie Brown rhymes well over the funky live drums, bass thumps, glimmery synthesizers & organs.  The stylishly retro "Tarantula" is fun, playful City Pop/J-Pop keys & drums fitting into  any yacht-rock playlist.  From how past collaborators De La Soul flow all over the throwback D.A.ISY-Age, sunny hip-hop thumper "Crocadillaz" it makes me miss the recently-passed Trugoy even more.  The Beck-&-Damon Albarn duet "Possession Island" meshes nice for a we're-all-in-this-together anthem & an epic scope of plucked strings, violins, vibraphone, that psychadelic Mellotron electro-piano, & the horn section at the end.  Checking a box of 1 genre the Gorillaz hasn't messed with yet, Reggaeton star Bad Bunny shows up on the wavy, mid-tempo beachy tones of "Tormenta" affectionately rapping how love is never perfect or easy, which will be a hit.  Similarly, my favorite beat here of rat-squeak effects & snapping snares, is bonus track "Controllah" with Brazilian rapper MC Bin Laden spitting in Portuguese.  Props also to giving their UK-African opening act Adeleye Omotayoa a lead-vocal jam on the smoky neon-lit, chorus-heavy ode to freedom "Silent Running". 

I normally dig Del/the Hieroglyphics crew but "Captain Chicken" kinda wastes an extremely groovy hard beat, just to feel too jokey.  A 2nd try at City Pop-Rock wasn't as effective on the glossy, lower-tempo "Baby Queen", where it's luminous pace & melancholy mood drags quickly.  For songs like the extremely folksy "Skinny Ape", where while Damon's vocals are emotional and I get the lullaby chimes & slow bluegrass guitar, it is a bit basic & sleepy.  Wasn't a fan either of "Oil", being minimalistic 80s indie-pop featuring Fleetwood Mac Stevie Nick's uncharacteristic lonely, robotic vocals. 

Very much a camouflaged loose concept project, yet one where most grooves stand on their own also.  While there's some pacing issues here-n-there, I genuinely liked 9-of-13 songs.  They still pull out some tricks to remain refreshing; and unlike previous Gorillaz albums, it doesn't overly rely on the impressive guest-lists as much.  Just clear, concise, creative, breezy-lofi-electro-pop-rock with feel-good energy and smooth emotional vocal performances.

2023 MUSIC REVIEWS: Don Toliver 'LOVE SICK'

 

DON TOLIVER – ‘LOVE SICK’
Release Date: 02/24/23
(CACTUS JACK/ATLANTIC RECORDS)

Houston-born singer/rapper Don Toliver returns with his 3^rd studio album in 4 years.  Quickly you notice it’s very down-tempo & more seductively textured than previous Toliver projects, evident on the enjoyable opener “LoveSickness” seeing Don trading cockiness for the possibility of catching feelings.  Following that, we quickly return to plenty of his same vibey, spacey, trappy-R&B elements for his core fans.  I was impressed by the new vocal skills Don showed off on the recent Metro Boomin’ album ‘Heroes & Villains’ & hoping it may carry over to here, but not quite.  It’s feature-heavy, sometimes to fault, as only half the guests worked for me (WizKid, Lil Durk, Brent Faiyaz, Toro y Moi, & Future); opposed to those that didn’t fit (James Blake, Glorilla, Kali Uchis, TisaKorean, Justin Bieber, & Charlie Wilson).  Production’s laid-back and tries balancing trust issues, relationship betrayal, (or) moving on to someone new.  There is a handful of head-scratching samples not executed well though, like SOS Band's "Do It Tonight" (on "Do It Right") & Beenie Man's "Girls Dem Sugar" (on "4 Me") both being horrible.  One sample that did work nicely was the Brent Faiyaz-assisted "Bus Stop" flipping BlackStreet's "I Can't Get You Out of My Mind" into a welcomed change of pace of dancey, Jersey-house energy.  Oddly my favorite song on the album was the solo cut “Company Pt. 3”.  Other notably good songs were the calming, Wizkid-assisted "Slow Motion", as well as "Cinderella" & “Time Heals All”. 

Unfortunately, focus is too heavy on a low-end, low-fi, melancholy ambience; an overuse of distortion; & chirpy, springy repetitive synth-beats with more pitchy Young Thug-esque too-reverbed vocals than I’d prefer.  The Hit-Boy-produced, electric-guitar driven “Go Down” for example, has the makings of a good R&B bop about things sexually going down in a car backseat, yet is quickly derailed by Don’s terrible vibratos, his laughable harmonized bridges, poorly-mixed peaking drums, & strange uncatchy transitions.  I’m admittedly a HUGE Charlie Wilson fan, so I was sadly disappointed how stall & uninteresting "If I Had" is.  Bieber’s likely the worst collabo on “Private Landing” where Don's annoyingly monotone & Justin gives such a not-into-this, echo-manipulated lazy performance, both disrupting from a halfway decent Future verse.  Presently, the track I dislike most is “Honeymoon” for being a boring, clumsy, bassy mess of poorly-mixed chord progressions & silly jibberish.  His uninspired direction just keeps me waiting for more versatility & dimension.  Not a bad album yet not enough contrast in 16 songs of pretty much the same generic, dreary, often-off-key vibe.  I score it 3 STARS (out of 6) as the more seductive moods I did appreciate.  With me scoring his previous (2) albums 2.5 Stars (out of 6) each, it's a small step up, but still very little growth or lyrical improvement in his career yet.