Sweet and Salty Music Reviews | No. 3
The Sweet
“The Now Now,” by Gorillaz.
Gorillaz takes it easy with a 40-minute album that is equal parts colorful and moody. Though not as “busy” as last year’s “Humanz,” Gorillaz return out of the blue with a pleasantly consistent group of synth-pop tracks.
Written during their last tour, “The Now Now” follows the band as they loiter across the U.S. on a musical journey, synthesizers and mood stabilizers in hand. The track titles are inspired by cities and states, including Los Angeles, Atlanta and even Idaho. While the “places” concept is interesting, nothing in these songs really make you think of their namesake locales. The strongest connection listeners have lies on the third track, “Hollywood,” which features Snoop Dogg as well as explicit references to the west coast megacity.
The first half of the album is absolutely delightful. The album’s lead single, “Humility,” sounds like a sunrise over a tropical beach — one situated on a deserted island. The sparse instrumental features a fruity beat complete with woody percussion and bouncy synth jabs. The verse-chorus structure adds new layers of music as the song continues and builds into a beautiful, lavish sound.
The album also transitions from one track to the next very well, which makes it feel complete and cohesive. Additionally, I enjoyed how the tracks are sequenced, regularly throwing new sounds at the listener while mixing up the album’s pace. The album hits a low point and stays there once the seventh track, “Lake Zurich,” arrives. The rest of the songs thereafter sound awfully “same-y,” failing to bring any new ideas to the table. The album just piles one wonky, psychedelic beat on top the of the last. Damon Albarn, the group’s vocalist, sounds similarly unenthused.
Though not as off-kilter or animated as past Gorillaz records, “The Now Now” is a welcome release following a disappointing come-back album that ended a seven-year hiatus.
Rating: 3.3 / 5
The Salty
“Uniform Distortion,” by Jim James
Jim James of the widely beloved indie folk group, My Morning Jacket, dropped his fourth album, “Uniform Distortion.” In his solo work, James strays from his usual woodsy, reverb-drenched delivery and experiments with different styles — mainly neo-psychedelia. On his latest record, James scrapes together another batch of songs that, despite their new style, are barely passable.
The album begins well enough with the song, “Just a Fool,” with its distorted guitar grooves and fuzzy baseline. Even the cowbell on this track is a tasteful addition, giving the rhythm some extra punch. The song sets the tone for the rest of the album which combines elements of both Americana and lo-fi rock. It isn’t a bad combination. But as much as I like the album’s lively performances and its rough, rootsy aesthetic, it faces some major setbacks. First and foremost is James’ singing. I was startled by how unprepared James sounds on this record, frequently straining to hit notes — and usually missing. He even flat-out laughs in the middle of some lines. The timbre of James’ voice is also distracting; his vocals are over-compressed and poorly mixed with the music.
While the album’s songs are well-written — featuring builds, breaks and decent structures — the lyrics fall behind, often involving cliched language and undescriptive words. For instance, “Throwback,” a song reminiscing on youth, begins, “Turn back the pages in the rays of the sun / Throw back Thursday to the way that it was.” The words are so general and half-hearted that they only vaguely elicit the intended feeling. The remaining tracks, including “No Use Waiting” and “Better Late Than Never,” only serve to fill time on the album. James relies heavily on guitar riffs and repetition, stretching a few simple ideas into several minutes of material. The album culminates in one final test of patience called, “Too Good To Be True,” a painfully slow southern rock ballad.
If James’ singing was more rehearsed and the tracklist shortened, “Uniform Distortion” could’ve been a much greater listen. For some reason, James, a compelling, fully capable musician, continues to have difficulty not just fleshing out his own material, but also performing on par with his main act.
Rating: 2.6 / 5
— huffy.hayden@protonmail.com
@huffy_hayden