Trump’s America isn’t all bad…at least he inspired a new Gorillaz track…right?
The infamous British alt-band that’s been radio silent since 2011 (The Fall) has finally released a new track!
News had been (very) slowly emerging over 2016 about the band’s newest project since their 2011 outing, and today we get an audio and visual treat from the band and a small taste of what’s to come.
The track, “Hallelujah Money,” is a sarcastic yet frighteningly accurate depiction of the political climate Western nations currently find themselves in (this isn’t the first time Albarn has shared his views on political events).
British singer-songwriter (and Mercury Prize winner) Benjamin Clementine handles most of the vocal duties on this hymnal, singing of “building walls” and warning of the “scarecrows from the Far East,” all from the elevator of a glitzy, golden tower (hint hint). The deceptive preacher warns against love as “the root of all evil,” keeping his audience frightened and hallucinated as images of cheery old-school cartoons and cowboys, end of times and images of Ku Klux Klan members project behind him.
Gorillaz member Damon Albarn comes in after the “Hallelujah Money” chorus with a weary and cautious optimism, singing “When the morning comes, we are still human. How will we know?” A question on a lot of people’s minds during these times.
While this is the first taste of new music from the band, they have been anything but unproductive over the past year. Ramping up anticipation for the new album, the band released several multi–media stories over the last quarter of the year tracing the story-arcs of the various band members in their time in between The Fall and their new album, which the band started recording for back in the spring of 2016 and will reportedly feature De La Soul and Snoop Dogg.
In addition to Gorillaz material, Albarn has been busy with various side-projects over the past year or so through his work on the soundtrack for a theatrical adaption of Alice in Wonderland and his work with his supergroup The Good, The Bad & The Queen.
Be sure to stay tuned for the (hopefully very soon) release of the new album and check out the new track below.