Why Plastic Beach proves Albarn always was and still is, way ahead of the British music scene…

Gorillaz's new album Plastic Beach had been in development for lets see... 5 years! It’s nothing like Demon Days. Yet it’s just like Demon days. It’s far from Blur. But wait it’s exactly like Blur. It’s Albarn at his best, and since both Blur and Demon Days were his best, I guess it explains why this album is so similar yet so very, very different. It has something fresh and organic about it, yet uses the same raw ingredients needed in every track Damon Albarn gets his Dirty Harry fingertips on.

This is an album that takes you on one heck of a world journey. From recycled (and improved!) 80s to middles eastern instrumental goodness, to clear nods at Britpop and of course iconic Gorillaz style rap. Once you throw yourself into this new and improved take on the world you won’t want to come back…

And so we begin with an ‘Orchestral Intro’, (does exactly what it says on the tin) which fans of both Blur’s album ‘13’ will appreciate, but surprisingly snaps into our first celebrity voice, Snoop Doggy Dog. Filled with robotic jazz blips and electronic symphonies, Snoop dog takes us through this new strange sound. Welcome to the world of the plastic beach, our next stop is the middles east…

‘White Flag’ is fills with lovely harmonic instruments before ‘HEY, LOOK YO!’ first UK rapper Bashy And up the road, you'll never guess who I saw but second UK rapper Kano. They talk about some utopia before Damon hits the vocals and before you know it ‘Rhinestone Eyes’ has begun. 80s synths come out to play and Albarn’s gorgeous melancholic voice is released - you’d be forgiven if you’ve already forget you just heard Snoop Dog. Before this song can adjust and make a bigger impact on you… the next song (the first single leaked on the internet) ‘Stylo’ takes control of the album.

There’s that electronic beat Gorillaz are known so well for! Mos Def’s deadpan delivery against Damon’s harmonic voice merges to a great effect. Just when you think it can’t get any better Bobby Womack’s strong chorus effortlessly fits in with this ‘overload’ of hip-hop, foot tapping, chillax melody. This is where the album really kicks off. ‘That’s what I’m talking about’.

Alarm bells ring as your told ‘This morning you've got time for a hot home-cooked breakfast…Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes’. Whoa?! Are you kidding me?! ‘Superfast Jelly-fish’ is unquestionably the one you most remember after listening to the whole album – it’s spunky, it’s cartoonish and cor it’s darn catchy! De La Soul takes the rap lead while Gruff Rhys adds the newly located pop chorus – it’s a definite wink at demon days and easily the most comic song of the bunch. I dare you not to sing-a-long to ‘Superfast, Superfast, I came in last, But just in time for breakfast…’

Empire Ant’s, 7th track down, featuring Little Dragon is where we hear the true Albarn (think Blur’s ‘This Is A Low’, ‘No Distance Left To Run’ and ‘Yuko & Hiro’) but not before airy, elusive melodies blip in and out. Just as we thought this light melancholic song could go no further a faster more electronic beat blends in and we hear Little Dragon sing and all is good with the world. This is a song light years ahead of the music yet it has Blur scraps and other familiar leftovers all over it.

‘Where’s north from here?’ I’ll tell you where; on top of a catchy finger clicking beat that just gets more futuristic the longer you listen. Funk to funky, this is glam rock - not now, but in years to come… thank Mark E Smith for giving us a glimpse in to the future.

Next, keeping in with the seventies spin, Lou Reed delivers, and hell what a song! Damon echoes in the background strikingly, but Lou Reed was correctly made the star – just keeping it real in his husky, grumpy, old, dry, throaty voice. Listen to this man - he sounds oh-so-wise, and well, it's some kind of soul, some kind of majesty! This is a song you loop over and over and should be played on the radio till its dead… but it isn’t! Subsequently you can enjoy the pleasure of listening to this song till your ears say no more – I get it - ‘It’s some kind of nature!’…

‘On Melancholy Hill’ neighbours ‘Some Kind Of Nature’ but Albarn takes full vocals. It’s Plastic Beach’s soul and heart, you can hear a liking to lightning seeds but no more then a nod as Damon takes stage and it becomes his own. Snoop Dog and the Middle East melodies are out of sight, we’ve come a long way in this trip round plastic beach, and we’re only just over half way through.

‘Broken’ is the shadowy younger brother of its sister ‘On Melancholy Hill’, it’s the least ‘Gorillaz track’ and the most ‘Albarn’ track on the whole album. The voice seems lost, dare I say broken? As Damon puts it, singing: ‘Is it far away in the Glitter Freeze’.

Oh hello ‘Sweepstakes’ where did Damon go? Blippy, blinking, bleeping, beats do that bopping thing they do and Mos Def is back with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble to funk it up. It’s a rappers delight and we’ve certainly turning this trip around to its original beginnings.

Damon’s then back with his ‘Plastic Beach’ and we get the spiralling harmonies twinkling out. It’s a tidier reminder to Blur’s ‘crazy beat’ with Mick Jones and Paul Simons clashing perfectly. Golden oldies meet modern rap. This is the world of the plastic beach after all...

‘To Binge’ featuring Little Dragon again, gives us our first romantic beauty, again another nod at Blur’s Yuko and Hiro’ it’s sounds so familiar yet so brand spanking new. A cocktail of love, regret, and aching hearts. Quite a mix, Sweepstake already seems like a million years ago.

Nearing the end with Bobby Womack delivering magnificently in ‘Cloud of Unknowing’ – it’s even better than his vocals on ‘Stylo’. It is at this point you almost forget you are playing a Gorillaz album. Then you realise, this is the Gorillaz. New, unpolluted Gorillaz, dare I say a cloud of unknowing? Yes I said it.

Softly, slowly, bouncy bouncing, time ticks on as ‘Pirate Jet’ finished our journey, as Damon tells us we’ve flown back to the plastic beach. It’s been some adventure, time has passed and it appears that we’ve left the taps running for over a hundred years. Still, we’re connected to the moment the adventure first began, and with that we relax on the Plastic Beach, look up at the stars, and listen to the waves fade away.

And so, more than a decade since Damon’s first post-Blur, known for the Britpop war with Oasis, (as much as I hate to mention it, for Blur were so much more then ‘Parklife’ and ‘Country House’), Albarn leaves us with Plastic Beach, wanting, wondering, wishing for more, proving is there no genre Albarn can’t twist and signature as his own. Some may say Oasis won the Britpop war, but Damon owns the world of Britpop, and it doesn’t look like he’s about to release it from his clutches any time soon.

You may have noticed I haven’t mentioned the fact the Gorillaz have their own special signature of being a cartoon band, with Jamie Hewlett’s quirky brilliant characters (and alter egos) Noodle, Murdock, 2D and Russell forming the band. That’s because that highly amusing, interesting and clever gimmick is not needed, despite the peculiar story that unravels around this album. Gorillaz is no longer a ‘virtual band’, for Plastic Beach proves to be a masterpiece. This is an album that Gorillaz claim as their own, but in fact they stole it - from the future, past and present. It’s pure adventure time travelling genius so immerse yourself into the world of plastic beach and wait until you fully digest it to realise its true standing.

5/5. Yes it has more featuring artists then any other and it's completely bizarre. But cherry pick songs or gobble up the whole bunch - It's Plastic Fantastic - just buy it.