Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots

The history of rock is not exactly littered with brilliant solo albums by famous frontmen, although given his uniquely eclectic output – ranging from rock bands and animated concept groups to operas and musicals – Damon Albarn’s Everyday Robots perhaps deserves to be considered as one more expression of his artistic restlessness, rather than a cash-in by an established artist on previous success.

It is a cliché to say of certain acts that you don’t know what they’ll do next, but with Albarn, you genuinely don’t – a solo album of his could have taken myriad forms, so part of the pleasure is simply in discovering what stylistic route he has chosen to take. Everyday Robots turns out to be a largely down-tempo collection of melancholy electro-folk: though not exactly a substantially stocked treasure chest of hit singles in the manner of certain Blur or Gorillaz records, it nonetheless showcases Albarn’s assuredness as a songwriter, as well displaying the sort of eclecticism beyond the reach of most of his peers.

As detailed in the excellent Culture Show documentary on the album earlier this year, Everyday Robots partly explores Albarn’s upbringing in suburban London and provincial England. A key track in this regard is ‘Hollow Ponds’, a slice of hazy electro ambience which acts as a sepia-tinted snapshot of the 1976 summer drought in the English capital. If there’s an essential feel to the album it’s one of urban loneliness, a motif made explicit in the title of the electro chamber piece ‘Lonely Press Play’, and also referenced in the glitchy folk pop of ‘The Selfish Giant’ (featuring Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes fame) and the moody acoustica of ‘Hostiles’.

The standout track, however, is the two-part dream-pop epic ‘You And Me’: featuring an appearance from Brian Eno, it takes the form of a travelogue through Albarn’s eternal muse, the city of London, and talks of the “tinfoil and the lighter / my ship across”, an allusion to the heroin dalliance Albarn recently addressed in the media in more detail.

Still possessed of formidable melodic gifts and capable of capturing the zeitgeist (even the title references our tech-saturated age), Albarn delivers the goods, and then some, on the delightful Everyday Robots.