The Now Now is the sixth studio album by the English virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 29 June 2018 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Warner Bros. Records.
The album features collaborations by George Benson, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Principle, Graham Coxon of Blur and Abra.
Upon its release, The Now Now peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart and number 4 on the US Billboard 200 and received generally positive reviews from critics. Six singles were released from the album: Humility, Lake Zurich, Sorcererz, Fire Flies, Hollywood, and Tranz.
Background[]
Recording began with fewer collaborators than usual, due to criticism over the band's previous album Humanz (2017) having too many, during the North American leg of the Humanz Tour in late 2017. According to Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn, The Now Now was recorded quickly so that the band would have more material for future live sets. Albarn has described the album as "pretty much just [him] singing" and "in the world of 2-D".
Recording[]
The Now Now was demoed during the 2017 Humanz tour, mostly in America. In the CD booklet for the album, the tracks which were demoed in the US are noted as such:
- Hollywood - Demo recorded at Mondrian Hotel, West Hollywood, California.
- Kansas - Demo recorded at The Raphael Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri.
- Idaho - Demo recorded at Knob Hill Inn, Ketchum, Idaho.
- Lake Zurich - Demo recorded at Marriott Hotel, Zurich.
- Magic City - Demo recorded at Delano South Beach, Miami, Florida.
- One Percent - Demo recorded at Marriott Hotel, Zurich.
- Souk Eye - Demo recorded at Mondrian Hotel, West Hollywood, California.
From there, the majority of the album was recorded at Studio 13 in February 2018 - footage of which can be seen in the Reject False Icons documentary. The album was recorded very quickly, because the live band wanted new material they could play at festivals.
Among the virtual band, the album's bass duties were handled by Ace, a character originally from The Powerpuff GirlsW. Murdoc was unable to join the recording sessions because he had been locked in jail for accumulated parking fines.
Title Meaning[]
In an interview with NME, 2-D stated that the album was called 'The Now Now' because it reflected how people need to live in 'the now' as it happens 'now' rather than dwelling on the future or the past because the present (the now) can become the past (then) in the blink of an eye; joking that it was for this reason that the album was named 'The Now Now' and not 'The Now Then'. [1]
2-D's outlook on living 'in the now' (or 'in the present') is a loose reference to the TranscendentalistW philosophy of living in the moment and self-reliance.
Release[]
Two new songs from the album were performed during the Humanz Tour: Idaho (at a September 2017 concert in Seattle), and Hollywood (at a March 2018 concert in Santiago). The latter performance would also mark Damon announcing the album's imminent release.
At All Points EastW 2018, a series of posters with ominous phrases (G Is the Magic Number, Save Us From Him, etc.) would be found, alongside a link that pointed to a teased release date of this new album.
Lead single Humility would release on the 31st of May, along with a teaser trailer for the album with Lake Zurich, followed by a series of single releases. Following the album announcement day, a North American seven-date tour to promote the album beginning in October, as part of The Now Now Tour, was announced.[2] On 24 June, Gorillaz performed The Now Now live at the Boiler RoomW in Tokyo, Japan, streaming it live on YouTubeW.[3]
The Now Now would release on the 29th of June of the same year. Along with the standard album, a deluxe edition 12” x 12” rigid board box set was also released, containing:
- Exclusive heavyweight blue vinyl 12” LP housed in spined cover with printed inner sleeve;
- 2D's Private Journal, a 52-page booklet, a studio notebook including album lyrics;
- 4 art prints size 12” x 12”;
- 6 pin badges size 1” mounted on card;
- A download card for the digital album;
- Opaque Round Hype Sticker on Shrink Wrap.
This version was also sold as a bundle together with a Gorillaz slip mat, Gorillaz themed playing cards or several T-Shirts. As for the CD formats, certain editions came bundles with 5 exclusive cardboard postcards including the slogans from the album and band artwork. Interestingly, the Mexican release is the only one to include a 'clean' version of the fifth postcard (with a black-and-white illustration of the band members), without the track listing and barcode.[citation needed]
Track Listing[]
| Standard Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | 'Humility' (feat. George Benson) | 3:17 | ||||||||
| 2. | 'Tranz' | 2:42 | ||||||||
| 3. | 'Hollywood' (feat. Snoop Dogg and Jamie Principle) | 4:53 | ||||||||
| 4. | 'Kansas' | 4:08 | ||||||||
| 5. | 'Sorcererz' | 3:00 | ||||||||
| 6. | 'Idaho' | 3:42 | ||||||||
| 7. | 'Lake Zurich' | 4:13 | ||||||||
| 8. | 'Magic City' | 3:59 | ||||||||
| 9. | 'Fire Flies' | 3:53 | ||||||||
| 10. | 'One Percent' | 2:21 | ||||||||
| 11. | 'Souk Eye' | 4:34 | ||||||||
Total length: |
40:49 | |||||||||
Personnel[]
Gorillaz[]
- Stuart '2-D' Pot - vocals, keyboard, synthesizer, acoustic guitar, songwriting
- Russel Hobbs - drums, percussion
- Noodle - guitar
- Ace D. Copular - bass guitar
Musicians[]
- Damon Albarn - vocals, keyboard, synthesizer, instrumentation, songwriting
- Remi Kabaka Jr. - percussion, drum programming ('Lake Zurich')
- James Ford - drums, bass guitar ('Humility', 'Tranz', 'Hollywood', 'Sorcererz', 'Magic City', 'Fire Flies', 'One Percent', 'Souk Eye'), synthesizer ('Humility', "Kansas", 'Sorcererz', "Idaho", 'Lake Zurich')
- George Benson - guitar ('Humility')
- Snoop Dogg - vocals ('Hollywood')
- Jamie Principle - vocals ('Hollywood')
- Karl Vanden Bossche - percussion ('Hollywood')
- Abra - additional vocals ('Sorcererz')
- Junior Dan - bass ('Sorcererz')
- Graham Coxon - additional guitar ('Magic City')
Technical[]
- Damon Albarn - production
- Remi Kabaka Jr. - production
- James Ford - production
- Stephen Sedgwick - mixing, engineering, recording
- John Davis - mastering
- Samuel Egglenton - engineering assistance
- Mark DeCozio - additional engineering ('Humility')
- Stuart Lowbridge - live music co-ordination
Artwork[]
- Jamie Hewlett - artwork, design, video direction
- Stars Redmond - assistance
- Siobhan Battye - assistance
[]
Gallery[]
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|
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| The full image gallery for The Now Now may be viewed at The Now Now/Gallery. |
Trivia[]
- The logo for the album uses the font 'Avalon Bold', which can be seen here.
- The Now Now is ofen compared to The Fall by fans because of the many similarities both albums share exclusively with each other:
- Both are the only albums by Gorillaz to not feature any bonus tracks on any edition;
- Both feature 2-D by himself on the cover art;
- Both feature the least ammount of collaborators among all of the band's albums;
- Recording of both albums started during the North American tour of a different studio album (Humanz and Plastic Beach, respectively);
- Both were released only shortly after the previous studio album and are of shorter length compared to them;
- Murdoc is entirely absent on both albums.
- On the 22nd June, a week prior to its intended release, the entire album was accidentally released for Amazon customers who had pre-ordered it as MP3.
- The catchphrase 'G Is The Magic Number' is a reference to the song 'The Magic Number' by American hip hop group and frequent Gorillaz collaborator De La Soul.
- The animated version of the cover art was produced by director and animator Jac Clinch, who also worked on various other Gorillaz projects, such as the Hollywood visualiser.[4]
References[]
- ↑ Stubbs, Dan. "Gorillaz: The power of ‘Now Now’". NME.com. NME. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ↑ Kaye, Ben. "Gorillaz announce North American arena tour, Los Angeles Demon Dayz Festival", Consequence of Sound, 31 May 2018. Retrieved on 1 June 2018.
- ↑ Arcand, Rob (24 June 2018). "Watch Gorillaz Perform Their New Album in Full". Spin. Retrieved on 3 April 2019.
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjc4fexH8Ec/