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8.2
105748
8.2 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
The aspiring traveller's pocketbook guide to America and politics that you can take to the beach
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8.0
105681
8.0 |
Exclaim
All in all, The Now Now feels fresh and present. Gorillaz have performed a type of sonic reset by stripping back their cast of collaborators, yet it exemplifies the strength of the songwriting at the group's core
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8.0
105602
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
It’s no Plastic Beach, but, by ditching the often hackneyed attempts to stay relevant that verged on self-parody and digging into their identity and other existential fears, Gorillaz have demonstrated that they still have the power to feel vital
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8.0
105603
8.0 |
The Arts Desk
Chilled summer groove, with synths popping irresistible bubblegum melodies
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8.0
105604
8.0 |
DIY
A more spaced-out affair, stripped of its star-studded collaborations and bathed in the apparent apathy of the modern age
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8.0
105605
8.0 |
Q
There's more soul bearing here than on anything since his Everyday Robots solo album. Print edition only
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8.0
105608
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Damon Albarn trims down the guest list and focuses his songwriting on the band's most coherent LP to date
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8.0
105609
8.0 |
The Skinny
Celebrates the interpenetration of alternate realities and our mundane. It’s a reminder that realities, real or otherwise, are shared
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8.0
105610
8.0 |
NME
20 years after the outlines of the band was first sketched by co-creator Jamie Hewlett, the band clearly still stands as a vivid creative outlet for Albarn. He’s managed to tap into the chaotic ethos so electrifying and unpredictable first time round, and reanimate the band’s fortunes in dazzling fashion
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8.0
105628
8.0 |
The Guardian
The Now Now is capable of beguiling despite the babble – a Gorillaz album that, for once, acts not as loudspeaker for the cacophony of modern life, but a salve instead
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7.8
105698
7.8 |
Paste Magazine
Feels like the product of someone slipping slowly but steadily into the depths of their personal and existential confusion
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7.5
105685
7.5 |
A.V. Club
Snoop Dogg’s much-hyped guest spot, “Hollywood,” is upbeat but flat and uninspired. Overall, The Now Now would work better if it fully embraced its melancholy
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7.0
105725
7.0 |
PopMatters
Gorillaz's sixth album is Damon Albarn hunched over his instruments, reflecting on the King Kong he's created
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7.0
105815
7.0 |
Spectrum Culture
A return to bare essentials for Albarn
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7.0
105660
7.0 |
All Music
Finds Albarn turning inward, finding solace in old sounds - particularly disco and old school hip-hop - while musing about the darker winds that blow outside of his door
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7.0
105646
7.0 |
The Music
The maudlin sound of much of the album still retains the futuristic gleam that defines the technological and graphic quality of Gorillaz
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7.0
105598
7.0 |
Clash
Another jubilant and solidly varied Gorillaz album
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7.0
105601
7.0 |
musicOMH
Production duties are shared with James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco, and an ’80s funk vibe seeps appealingly through the album
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7.0
105607
7.0 |
Uncut
It feels like Albarn in transit, both physically and mentally. Print edition only
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6.8
105638
6.8 |
Pitchfork
The allure of isolation defines Damon Albarn’s latest project. With only a few guests on the album, he writes simple, mostly upbeat songs with words of exhaustion
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6.5
105933
6.5 |
Under The Radar
Albarn is at his most interesting when he is in the spotlight
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6.0
105730
6.0 |
Earbuddy
The Now Now feels more like a proper Gorillaz album. Albarn or 2D rather is at the forefront of these songs. You get meaningless guest appearances from George Benson, Snoop Dogg, and Jamie Principle, so there’s that
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6.0
105690
6.0 |
The Observer
Too much of a breeze
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6.0
105643
6.0 |
Loud And Quiet
The first half’s songs in particular are aimlessly unremarkable, with little of the swagger or paradigm-disrupting confidence of the Gorillaz concept at its height
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6.0
105652
6.0 |
The Irish Times
The lack of guest appearances on The Now Now reduces the size of the fantastical world that Albarn and Hewitt have dreamed up, leaving less room for the unexpected and highlighting the central theme of loneliness
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6.0
105612
6.0 |
The Independent
Where their first three albums demanded your attention, The Now Now glides past, failing to confront the listener for the most part, and containing just enough solid songs to not fall into the lower echelons of Albarn’s work
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6.0
105599
6.0 |
Drowned In Sound
The Now Now is an easy album to forget and one that lacks a sense of purpose
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6.0
105606
6.0 |
Mojo
This is a record that manages to feel both trapped and rootless. Print edition only
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5.0
105696
5.0 |
The 405
Lately, it seems the band (moreover, Albarn) has developed a “Why not?” attitude in regards to releasing their music, and, considering this, it’s hard to be excited about the band’s future
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5.0
105707
5.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
For now, Gorillaz seem content to oscillate between extremes, a futuristic pop powerhouse that cannot decide what the future looks like
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