Score: 3/5
Damon Albarn, the man behind the highly popular virtual band Gorillaz, has become known as a jack-of-all-trades in the music industry. Between producing, writing, recording and managing Gorillaz, all of his musical and graphical dreams have been coming true.
Albarn’s talents have taken a backseat due to Gorillaz’s steady rise to popularity since its 2001 self-titled debut. Today, his former glory of front man has disappeared, making way for the technical and graphical revolution of Gorillaz.
Now, Albarn has returned to first love — rock band Blur. Forever cemented in history for the track “Song 2,” Blur is Albarn’s original band once known for raucous guitar and standing as the new millennium’s definition of garage rock. The band’s newest album, “The Magic Whip” is its return after a 12-year absence.
The album starts with “Lonesome Street,” a catchy garage rock track with Albarn singing his newest trend of political and globally concerned lyrics. “Lonesome Street” reminds listeners of a the crunchier sound of Blur, but it shows Albarn is a bit rusty and may have lost some of his vocal bite.
From “Lonesome Street,” the album turns into something unlike other Blur albums. Featuring electronic music for the most part, “The Magic Whip” is a chilled-out, techno think piece. With songs discussing Albarn’s existentialism and Blur’s time spent in Hong Kong.
Songs like “Thought I Was A Spaceman” and “My Terracotta Heart” are slow moving and sentimental, whereas “I Broadcast” and “There Are Too Many Of Us” have fanfare and alarmism, spewing political purpose like the songs of The Clash.
“Ghost Ship,” the album’s best song as far as sound and style are concerned, is a funky, almost reggae-like soul ballad, possibly about Blur’s departure from Hong Kong after being stranded there for five days.
Clearly, Albarn and his band’s time spent in Asia had an effect on his songwriting. If anything, “The Magic Whip” is Albarn’s ode to travel, culture and the politically charged air of Hong Kong and its surrounding administrations.
After 12 years with Gorillaz, it’s interesting to see where Albarn has landed with Blur. It’s not that he’s easygoing and lenient. Rather, he’s malleable and aware to the climate of the world around him. Unfortunately, his awareness has made his instrumentation softer and his voice less forceful. While Blur has returned, a piece of Albarn has not.