By: Caitlin Hoffman
For BiggerThanBeyonce.Com

Since I heard the news of its release, I’ve been outrageously excited about Gorillaz and their new album, Plastic Beach. Call it a guilty pleasure, or a sign of good taste, but I can’t help but love them. Awesome, psychedelic music fronted by quirky cartoon characters…where can you go wrong there?

All the oddly appealing characters of the virtual band were created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, and considering they’re fictitious, it’s impressive what kind of a fanbase they’ve attracted. This makes it clear that there’s something going on behind those imaginative creations; there’s the power of the genre-blending music they represent, the charge in the sweet tunes that are shelled out album after album. The fact that their music is a collaboration of tons of various musicians only adds further to the intrigue and enjoyment of the concept they create.

When I listen to Gorillaz, I’m expecting music that is either delightfully chill-worthy, or an endorphin release trigger with a hypnotic edge that demands dancing. The Gorillaz create beats that sink into you, command you to move with their rippling sonic waves. Plastic Beach meets those expectations, and so much more. Honestly, it’s nothing but a smooth sailing, fancy coloured tripfest. Whether the songs are bending more towards the electro, brit-pop, or rap sides of the ocean of genres that the Gorillaz take inspiration from, they all have an instant hook. While listening to the album, I couldn’t help but keep thinking, “There’s something impressive here”. With songs that feature artists from the legendary Lou Reed to the rhyme-dropping Snoop Dogg, this album definitely has something for anyone who wants to have their senses overwhelmed and their ears dipped in honey.

It’s all dazzle, all the time, and a perfect highway to escapism. Just like the characters live in a world of imagination, their music can also bring us to a similar mind-set. Even the album name, Plastic Beach, helps paint the image of where the music can take us to: a fictitious, paper-thin place that we’d love to escape to, even if the atmosphere is light and superficial; a world where fantasies abound and strangeness seldom differs.

Want a vacation from reality? Be sure to watch the whacky video for Stylo, the first single off the album, below.

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