Chromeo — Head Over Heels (06/15/18) / Gorillaz — The Now Now (06/29/18)

Chromeo — Head Over Heels

It’s been over four years since we last saw an album from the Canadian funk duo, Chromeo, but the boys have returned at the top of their game with the biggest and brightest songs of their career. They continue writing about sex and love with songs that constantly beg for a lover’s caress, and it doesn’t grow old for a second. The men behind Chromeo never seem to take themselves too seriously, as is evident from the album cover. This makes the emotional moments that much more ripe on songs like “Bedroom Calling, Pt. 1”, and notably the bridge of “One Track Mind”, where singer David Macklovitch (Dave 1) pulls off his best performance of the album. 8.5/10

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Gorillaz — The Now Now

After last year’s overstuffed release with Humanz (an album I couldn’t put myself through), Gorillaz suddenly returned this year with a set of much easier to digest songs. Despite the quick turnaround and hasty recording, it’s clearly well-produced with a group of tracks that each play their part in creating a listen that would make for great background music at a hipster party. Though for the most part, it’s a float-on-by listen, “Tranz” easily stands out as one of the best songs of 2018. 7/10