4in1! Humility/ Lake Zurich Reviews Gorillaz

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Awhile ago Damon Albarn confirmed that this year would bring a followup to last year's reasonable showing from Humanz, which we now know will be called The Now Now. Four of these Gorillaz singles were dropped at pretty much the same time, Humility, Sorcererz, Fire Flies and Lake Zurich, the former of which received a ebullient skateboarding video made for summer that catapulted it to the top of the YouTube trending chart. Is it worth the hype? Maybe... but I'll start with Lake Zurich, the first that dropped. The majority of the song is relatively sparse electronic house track, full of elements that fade in and out over the basic key line and the almost natural sounding drums. It's good, wholesome classic house and does this cool switch around three minutes that makes you want to listen for the full long four minutes. It has a weird interlude which sounds like it was from Murdoc and doesn't really make much sense, so it just sounds like Damon Albarn was having fun on this track, and didn't want to make it into a pop song with lyrics and all.


Fire Flies starts off nice and slow and orchestral melancholy, with lots of peculiar backing synthes. The way the singing and filters go it almost sounds like Cigarettes After Sex, but the buildup with the chorus and the bridge make it more poppy but not fully. Sorcererz starts off a bit more fast and danceable, with some nice funky keys and drums. The lyrics are less prominent and not really that far forward, but the jubilant dancey vibe of the song and the delivery and filter of the vocals make it much more of a pop song. It certainly is more fun than Fire Flies and Lake Zurich but not as much as the final single...

Humility starts of showing its funky vibrating semi electronic beat that make you vibrate without even realizing. The synthes and guitar form an excellent wave of positive summer vibes that backs the memorable but not extremely anthemic lyrics. This song is almost destined to be a pop hit, and shows that Gorillaz is finally moving into a very consistent, bouncy style of electronic dance, with some extra bits that really make it unique. The four singles show the range and emotional depth this album will have, but sadly not all of the songs will have the excellent guitar of George Benson to give them that top vibe. Who's already buying that The Now Now ?? I know I am !!

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