Gorillaz: The Fall

It's funny what being on the road can do to a band. Fights, long periods of silence, rehab, break ups, and retirement all seem to follow bands after a long time on the road. So, it's interesting The Fall turns out better than the album the Gorillaz were touring, Plastic Beach.

Although it contains Damon Albarn's production (which was the main reason Plastic Beach was a weak outing compared to the two preceding albums), there seems to be more life and more depth to these songs – or maybe it's because they're shorter and not as annoying. Arranged like a travelogue of their trip across the USA, the album features songs much in the same vein as Plastic Beach, but the most interesting thing about The Fall is it was nearly completely recorded on an iPad. Because of this there's the feel of something almost experimental, but overall it lacks the 'experimental music' determination to really challenge an audience.

'Phoner to Arizona' sounds like a rearrangement of all the songs on Plastic Beach, while 'Joplin Spider' starts with the lads discussing whether a spider is poisonous before dropping a nasty bassline that wouldn't go amiss in a dubstep tune, followed by what can only be described as an Atari playing an 80s acidhead's version of an alien invasion. Or at least a good approximation of one. 'Seattle Yodel' is simply a yodel with some echo effects.

Other tracks are clearly influenced by the places they've visited. 'Detroit' sounds like they spent quite a few nights in the Motor City grooving away to the big house DJs, but an iPad could only manage a shadow of that sound. However, the Chicago-recorded 'Shy-Town' has a laid back hip hop feel that New York is more famous for. Listening to 'California and the Slipping of the Sun' you can just imagine sitting on the beach watching the sun dip into the ocean, and 'Little Pink Plastic Bags' is a dreamy little number which floats along like the titular bags on one of the USA's long and dusty highways.

And thankfully some songs actually sound like songs. 'Revolving Doors' starts wonderfully simple with a guitar and a beat, and neatly builds up layers of complex electronic horns and synth melodies. Likewise 'HillBilly Man' starts with just the guitar, but ends up a bit more raucous. 'Bobby In Phoenix' is a great bluesy number, featuring the vocal talents of Bobby Womack. It's the best song on the album, and possibly Gorillaz's best track since 'Dare'.

Maybe it's because having a relatively stable band for an extended period of time meant Albarn was able to write songs for them, as with Blur. Maybe it was the fact he didn't have time to dwell on production and getting things perfect because he was on the road. Or maybe it's simply that the Apple iPad is truly the 'Jesus Pad' and can really do anything, even make a bunch of songs sound better. Whatever the reason, The Fall is better than Plastic Beach, but still nowhere near as good as Gorillaz or Demon Days.

Time Out Tokyo rating:

The Fall is released April 18 on Virgin Records