damon albarn

For a musical project that created an infinite cartoon universe for its four fictional members to inhabit, Gorillaz shows surprisingly little evolution in style or substance on Cracker Island.

Palaces encapsulates all of Streten’s successful recipes while twisting and turning through occasional oddity.

'Song Machine Episode 3' encapsulates the same electronic dreaminess of Gorillaz’s former work, but it's the staggering of emotion throughout the release that keeps listeners hooked.

The album art — a swirly, wistful drawing in cotton candy hues of 2-D playing his guitar — is in line with the mood of The Now Now, which is primarily beachside ennui.

Besides the music videos cycling through the screen behind the stage, their 8-bit countenances also made occasional appearances on a small overhead display.