Yesterday, the Gorillaz released "Fire Flies" from their highly-anticipated new album, The Now Now.
Contrasting heavily with the upbeat previous single, "Humility," this new track exhibits a much darker tone. Frontman Damon Albarn's vocal delivery is soothing yet haunting, with atmospheric layering of jarring synths, and a powerful bass line that drives the song. Additionally, "Fire Flies" boasts a solid groove with rhythmic complexity. The beat alters time signatures, as varied electronic percussion flows in and out.
The Now Now is shaping up to be quite different from last year's critically acclaimed and Grammy-nominated album Humanz. While the band's previous effort featured at least one outside vocalists on every song — including Grace Jones, Mavis Staples, Pusha T, Jehnny Beth, De La Soul, Vince Staples, Popcaan — their upcoming album features only three known collaborators. Albarn talked about this new direction in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music.
No, there’s not really any [collaborators] because I wrote most of it on tour in America. Snoop [Dogg]’s on it because we were in LA, and Jamie [Principle] because he was on the tour. And then just sort of randomly thought of George Benson, and that’s it really. There’s nothing else.
This new single from the Gorillaz only adds fire to the flame for the new album, as its mix of darkness and ambiance is just as mesmerizing as it is chilling.
The Now Now is set for release on June 29, 2018. You can order it on Amazon.
For more music, news, and tour dates, check out the Gorillaz' Zumic artist page.