Gorillaz make a new album (with a lot of help from their friends)

Gorillaz

"Plastic Beach"
3 stars

Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn said "Plastic Beach" is a conscious move toward pop, but there's nothing on it as immediately pleasing as the madcap laughs of the band's 2005 single, "Feel Good Inc." Instead, the sound is almost completely defined by the quality of contributions from guest artists. The result is a schizophrenic album, prone to moments of synthesizer mindlessness and plain laziness.

De La Soul goofs through the anti-packaging screed of "Superfast Jellyfish," a song whose chorus is initially grating but delightfully dopey on repeated listening. Snippet contributions from Sinfonia ViVA and the Lebanese National Orchestra add dashes of spy intrigue. One minute you're dapper and dancing among a tuxedo-clad crowd; the next you're barreling over rooftops in an exotic Eastern locale. Bobby Womack is a particular delight, exploding hot soul all over the chorus in "Stylo."

Lyrically, there are repeated weather references and more than enough primitivism to get Greenpeace's attention. "Pirate Jet" might be the most hammer-on-head obvious example, describing the environmental travesty of a sink left running for over 100 years.

But after Lou Reed's lackadaisical, pseudo-inspirational mumble in "Some Kind of Nature," the album grinds to a halt. It becomes aerated with Albarn's trim falsetto and drooping bass lines, which circle endlessly over the plastic bottles floating in the water from which you're trying to escape. Too much synth; not enough groove or momentum. It's deflated and boring. It reminds us that we've been spoiled by the helium happiness that infused the band's previous effort, "Demon Days."

Thankfully, Womack returns with the best performance on the album in "Cloud of Unknowing." He speaks as a god who has witnessed the appropriation of his land. The ache in his vocals as he questions whether the sun will rise is heartbreaking. And as the seagulls begin circling again, more ominous and dissonant, you wish to fly his gorgeous voice out of the forsaken sadness of "Plastic Beach."