Song Machine: Momentary Bliss

“Momentary Bliss” comes in as the first song released for the Gorillaz Song Machine. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I saw the release of this song. Keep in mind that the word had been spread that Damon Albarn was going on another lengthy hiatus, and 10 years no less.

After waiting only two years, we were graced with, what I believe, is one of the greatest releases in Gorillaz history. However, it would soon be rivaled by the likes of “Pac-Man,” but I will talk about that in the future.

“Momentary Bliss” features the musical styles of U.K. rapper Slowthai and the English punk rock band, Slaves. This song takes us back to the era of “Gorillaz” and “Demon Dayz.” After the feature heavy “Humanz” album and the instrumental heavy “Now Now,” “Momentary Bliss” is a return to form and reminds us that 2-D is the front man of the band.

Damon’s vocals on this track remind me of something similar to “Dirty Harry” or even “Clint Eastwood.” The features are not to be forgotten however.

Slaves’ Vocalist, Isaac Holman, starts off the track with a very mellow, almost monotone, intro about how life can be more than just these fleeting moments of, well, momentary bliss. This is, if it isn’t obvious, the main theme of the song. Slowthai then comes in with a very complimentary rap that blends very well with the set up of the song so far.

The song starts to pick up with the second half of Slowthai’s rap which collaborates with the punchy, hard punk music backing. Shortly thereafter, we get into 2-D’s section, which similarly melds with the Hip-Hop nature the song is taking on. 2-D more or less joins Slowthai here with his own sort of rap/spoken word verse.

The song blends well with the familiar Gorillaz usage of synthesizer and a basic, yet fitting, drum track. Overall, the song is fantastic and has easily made it’s way onto my top 10 Gorillaz songs list.

Taking a step away from the music for a second, I think it’s also important to talk about what’s going on in the music video for this track. The Gorillaz have been known for mainly two things, and that’s their genre altering music, as well as, their compelling and immersive characters and story backgrounds.

There isn’t really all that much going on in the Song Machine story so far. All we know is that the band has taken up residence in a new Kong Studios after the incidents of the “Now Now.” Other than that we get to see some really interesting interactions between the characters and the actual musicians. If memory serves, this is a first for the 2-D and the band.

This is directly in line with what we have been told so far that we will be seeing a slow release of episodic videos accompanied by a new song throughout the year. I am very excited to see what’s in store for the future.

If you’d like to check out the song, you can go listen to it on the Gorillaz Youtube page here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTt7301PR5k