Gorillaz - Humanz review: ‘A technicolour epic with a darker sound’

In cartoons the Road Runner can zoom through solid rock and Bugs Bunny can stop a bullet by shoving a carrot down a gun barrel.

Anything can happen, and so it is with the fifth album from Damon Albarn’s animated collective Gorillaz. Humanz is a technicolour epic, with 20 songs and six interludes in its deluxe version, a vast cast list and a darker sound that stretches from the thundering techno of Momentz to the strident proclamations of We Got the Power.

Guests including Jamaican dancehall man Popcaan, yelping rapper Danny Brown and a babbling Grace Jones by rights ought to give a disjointed feel, but the constant presence of Albarn’s warm analogue synths, and his languid voice drifting across the songs, makes it hold together regardless.

It’s hard to imagine how he’ll turn this army of performers into a coherent live spectacle at Gorillaz’ own festival in Margate this summer, but as a headphone record Humanz is a dazzling experience.

(Parlophone)