Alt-rock and hip hop group, Gorillaz and R&B/soul artist, Thundercat have come together on a new track, Cracker Island.
A glorious collaboration has taken place with Thundercat and the Gorillaz in a new song called Cracker Island. Legendary Damon Albarn, the genius behind the animated personas of Gorillaz, loves to meld styles and collab with interesting artists. He’s kept it interesting over the years as he’s teamed up with Lou Reed, Vince Staples and MF Doom to produce songs together.
Cracker Island feels futuristic with its synth beats, but the lyrics add a dystopian feel to it. In the beginning, the song feeds into the sounds of Plastic Beach, Gorillaz third project, which feels like paranoid moments and memories. 2D reiterates this paranoia by stating,“it’s nice to be back, I’m well into our new tune, it brings back weird and scary memories of stuff that hasn’t happened yet.”
The alarming synth line in the song is contrasted with Thundercats’ ethereal vocal interjections and his iconic groovy bass lines. The song brings on this sense of dread, but it also seems to energize its listeners as it is stuck in a funky loop of rambling sketchy thoughts. Thundercat vocalises these ramblings in the verses with 2-D and on his own in the bridge in a falsetto pitch, adding to the vast, empty space that the song is creating.
“What world is this? What world is this?” Thundercat repeats in the bridge as the synth sounds jolt along.
You could definitely get stuck dissociating to this song. It’s somewhat soothing, even though if it feels like you’re experiencing a bad trip.
The Gorillaz World Tour 2022 kicked of in South America at the beginning of the year. They are set to perform at Splendour In The Grass in July; the bands first visit to Australia in 12 years! Give Cracker Island a listen now! There’s hypnotising animation that moves around while the song plays…It’s creepy, but you can’t look away! Check it out below:
