Without a better way to express it, and as I have professed to others, with each release since their original, in between I feel like I waited my whole life to hear the next Gorillaz album. They aren’t released at any significant milestones in my life, but they do in turn become a marker in my life, often set as the background to anything and everything I am doing for the next month or so. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself; we haven’t even gotten to the “good” part. Who knows if that will even be the case this time?

It will and it was. That is exactly where the Gorillaz exists. In the past and future, foregoing the present entirely. Humanz is made up of waves of nostalgic sounds that crash against concepts so far ahead of pop music of the present. Today is packed full of recycled concepts from Taylor Swift’s, Justin Bieber’s, and Adam Levine’s. By comparison, they seem like artists constantly struggling to sound exactly like each other, clamoring for that envelope full of money instead of pushing it in pursuit of the next sound. Not to disparage the pop giants music, but you only realize how vapid pop music is on the whole when you hear an arrangement so familiar yet so new, you realize you are rarely challenged to listen to anything new all at once.

The Gorillaz created a staggering, yet sobering new album that beckons multiple listens. Even having played the tracks multiple times each by this point, in order and out of order, I found that each song has its own permanence outside the narrative of the album as a whole. The existence of multiple media outlets for the Gorillaz story (in music videos, comics, books, and an upcoming mini series) is an ever present shadow to the creators and characters behind the music. On the whole, the backing narrative of the music hasn’t had large appeal to me as whole, I have enjoyed dropping in and out of the world just for the art and unique concepts alone.

Assuredly, I will return to the topic of the larger Gorillaz narrative in the future, but the sounds of Humanz is in the spotlight right now. Upon the release of 5 singles over the last month, the standout juggernaut for me was “Ascension”. A short, defiant club track with quick spit vocals that really hooked me with the classic roof-is-on-fire attitude and the complex relationship between insiders and outsiders. From the album, “Strobelite”, a fusion of classic Sonic The Hedgehog video game beats and 80’s romance refrains reminiscent of Prince’s “When Doves Cry”, is a standout banger. “Submission” comes in shortly after, beginning with the promise to be unique, and plays a fun 90’s tune that reminds me of the height Mariah Carey’s fame, yet it doesn’t skimp on its rap game; Danny Browne and Kelela play off each other as complete opposites but it works. And these are just the most familiar tunes. The other songs, “Out Of Body”, “Hallelujah Money”, and others take a little longer to chew.

In summation, in Humanz and Gorrilaz on the whole, you don’t feel the need to skip tracks, but instead understand them. It’s like an intellectual challenge, both lyrically and musically. Do yourself a favor and listen to it once, then again, and finally share it with a friend and listen with them. One of the greatest feelings is sharing a music experience with others. Everyone needs an evening to connect and listen together, with brews or bud, as Humanz.