The Gorillaz universe reigns with a sense of apocalypse. Through the video clips or the canon universe behind the fictional band, we are subjected to surreal bleakness and fantasy. Founded in 1998, Blur’s Damon Albarn and animator Jamie Hewlett created Gorillaz after watching MTV’s interviews and being disheartened at the artificiality of current artists and bands. Thus, they invented a fake band with four fictional members and four fictional backstories. The band is also known for its extensive use of features and collaborations.
Their third album, Plastic Beach, which was released on March 3rd, 2010, takes place at Point Nemo, the most remote point in the ocean. It references the plastic islands created by gatherings of plastic detritus due to maritime and oceanic currents. Albarn, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme in 2010, chose the name Plastic Beach when he “was walking on Hallsands beach in south Devon around 18 months ago… there was an amount of very small particles that weren’t stone or glass, but plastic. It was the beginning of a meditation on the state of our oceans.” The island is, canonically, the location of a war between the band and the album’s villain, the Boogyman.
Environmental conscience is the backdrop of the album. With songs such as ‘Superfast Jellyfish’, featuring Gruff Rhys and De La Soul, we are reminded of nutritional consumerism. The song sounds like an advertisement (“just enjoy the gritty crunch/that tastes just like chicken”) as the artists directly address the audience. The song could be a satirical critique of the dehumanisation of ready-meals, and the ecological aspect is not lost on us with lyrics such as “the sea is radioactive.”
In ‘Some Kind of Nature’, featuring the late Lou Reed, there are recurring mentions of plastic, aluminum, and chemical loads. Here, Reed and Albarn are using man-made, artificial elements to define humanity (“it’s who we are”), mixing romanticism and packaging (“some kind of plastic/ I could wrap around you”).
On top of Melancholy Hill, there’s a plastic tree. Once again, Albarn uses surreal romantic imagery (“are you here with me?”) and close human connection to contrast with the fake, plastic background of the album, which is more visible through the video clips, where the characters sit on top of a plastic island.
In Gorillaz lore, band member Murdoch Nichols chooses Plastic Beach as the band’s new HQ, and they fight their battles there. Musically, Albarn uses pollution more as a narrative device than as an explicit critique, yet the album’s lyric and aesthetic directly makes us reflect on the state of our ocean and the destruction caused by this pollution.
Image “Gorillaz – Plastic Beach” by don_padre is licensed under CC BY 2.0.