Definition of a swan song: ‘a farewell or final performance.’ With the future of alternative hip-hop group Gorillaz up in the air, the hype behind its latest — and possibly last — release was built up to an almost hyperbolic level.

When a band is about to call it quits, either to take a break and embark on new musical endeavors or to end its musical career for good, it’s always best to go out on a high note. For Gorillaz fans, this would entail one last lyrical tour de force and inventive sonic send-off for the band’s animated avatars and cleverly crafted fictional universe. With a unique pairing of electronic indie rock and hip-hop witticisms, the brainchild of former Blur frontman Damon Albarn carved a niche in the fine line between mainstream success and underground flair.

And then Albarn announced ‘The Fall,’ the group’s last effort before setting aside time to focus on different projects. There could be no more fitting a name for an album teeming with expectations for greatness,only to bring the bar that was set so high crashing down on Gorillaz’s loyal fan base.

The album was recorded in traditional Albarn style — an insightfully inventive way. It was recorded, mixed and produced all on a single iPad during the group’s tour, and what charm the album has comes from its nearly Kerouac–ian identity. Each track has a certain feel depending on where in the United States it was recorded, and even with a blatant disregard for album cohesiveness, it gives each song a distinct flavor.

‘Phoner to Arizona’ proves why bands fork over the cash to hire top-notch producers: The production value of an iPad sounds uneven and raw. Among heavily distorted falsetto vocals, synthesizers that sound like a malfunctioning Transformer and a bass line that sounds like a rehash of a David Guetta B-side, the track sounds phoned in and starts a slow burn of painful emotions for Gorillaz fans.

The sun-drenched ‘Revolving Doors’ and ‘Hillbilly Man’ are driven by a bouncy acoustic guitar and balanced out by electronic effects that even Daft Punk wouldn’t dare touch. They are fun toe-tappers that have only one problem: It doesn’t sound like anything from Gorillaz’s past discography. Albarn makes no effort to disguise his voice like on previous albums, and with every note he croons, it feels like he’s showing his fictional alter-ego 2-D the door out of his imagination.

‘The Fall’ should have been released under Albarn’s name as a solo effort, a spaced-out experimental tribute to American writer Jack Kerouac’s’On the Road.’Songs like the saccharine keyboard-heavy ‘Detroit,’ wistfully lo-fi and poetic ‘Amarillo,’ and the gritty, soulful twang of ‘Bobby in Phoenix’ stand out as hallmarks of Albarn’s adeptness and ingenuity as a songwriter. But there’s the rub. The songs have absolutely nothing in common with the artsy hip-hop leanings of the band’s second album,’Demon Days,’ or more recently the surf-soaked whimsical dystopia of its third release,’Plastic Beach.’

Which is why, standing alone as a brand new entity, I could find myself nodding along to the futuristic beat of ‘The Snake in Dallas’ or even daydreaming about the blissfulness of summer nights with ‘California and the Slipping of the Sun.’ But where are the poignant lyrics and sing-song vocals that made ‘Feel Good Inc.’ an overnight sensation? Where’s the tongue-in-cheek self-awareness that engulfedthe band’s first single,’Clint Eastwood’? Was Albarn so hard-pressed and creatively bankrupt that he recorded a solo album and dubbed it as Gorillaz for his last hurrah?

Maybe it’s fitting the last song on the album is the 40-second ‘Seattle Yodel.’ Each slowly fading yodel that rounds out the album on a quirky note is a dying gasp of breath from the group’s animated counterparts, the heart and soul of the politically charged band. A departure from sound can be a breath of fresh air for a band that has exhausted every last atom of its creativity, but Gorillaz deserves a more fitting send-off — to go out with a bang instead of a yodel.

ervanrhe@syr.edu

Published on April 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Erik: ervanrhe@syr.edu | @therealvandyman