Shoulda had a MUNA feature.
[Video][Website]
[3.67]
Edward Okulicz: Damon Albarn + politics + gospel + protest, there’s an equation we all wanted. In his hands, even with an occasionally good rap from Pusha T, it comes across as lightweight sloganeering. I do like the slapping beat though.
[3]
Thomas Inskeep: A good Push verse is always cause for celebration, and this might be a great one. Plus we get Mavis Staples singing on a track that doesn’t feel embalmed (cf. her Jeff Tweedy records of recent vintage)! The electro syndrums on this are marvelous, to boot. Credit Damon Albarn for piecing this all together, but credit Pusha T and Staples more for their performances, which make this.
[8]
Tim de Reuse: I don’t doubt the sincerity of the sentiments in here, but other than a few poignant lines from Pusha-T buried in the middle and some underdeveloped religious themes that could’ve been interesting given space to breathe there isn’t a lot expressed that we haven’t all said to ourselves several times already over the past few months. This isn’t to imply that you’ve gotta say something groundbreaking to make music worth listening to, but I can’t think of a reason I would want to come back to this tune in particular for ritual exorcism of 2017 malaise. It doesn’t help that the production is vacant and fluttery, faithfully recreating the anti-ASMR sensory experience of watching a housefly that stubbornly refuses to land and be swatted.
[5]
Alfred Soto: As concept, Gorillaz exist for juxtapositions like this, but Damon Albarn’s execrable judgment for synth sounds turn no doubt well-meaning interpolations of gospel fervor and enthusiasm into boluses of suck.
[3]
Claire Biddles: I mean, it namechecks Tr*mp but is it really about anyone’s specific experience in the world? In much the same way as the most recent outing by Depeche Mode, “Let Me Out” uses all the right buzzwords but ends up being about a call for “change” so vague that it’s meaningless. It feels apt that legendary singer and activist Mavis Staples is brought in, but just for a pre-chorus — used as a kind of hype woman for whatever surly-voiced cartoon character Damon Albarn is pretending to be. A wasted opportunity.
[3]
Micha Cavaseno: Worthless gospel signifiers yet again from a clearly dried up and unimaginative artist such as Albarn; the emboldened confidence of Pusha and the worldliness of Mavis here are ruined by generic synth nonsense that insist on a depth and poignancy that aren’t there. Some cartoons deserve to get canceled and frankly Gorillaz is one of them.
[0]