Demon Days (2005)
Demon Days is a 2005 alternative dance album by Gorillaz.
A cartoon band making some of the most nocturnal pop of its decade. Gorillaz's second album, released in 2005 and produced with Danger Mouse, threads hip-hop, dub, electronica, and gospel into a loose meditation on a world going wrong. Guests drift through, from De La Soul on the giddy 'Feel Good Inc.' to a children's choir on the closing stretch. Behind the animated characters designed by Jamie Hewlett sits Damon Albarn's songwriting, moody and melodic at once. It plays like a night drive through a city that can't sleep.
Quick answers
What is Demon Days about?
A cartoon band making some of the most nocturnal pop of its decade. Gorillaz's second album, released in 2005 and produced with Danger Mouse, threads hip-hop, dub, electronica, and gospel into a loose meditation on a world going wrong. Guests drift through, from De La Soul on the giddy 'Feel Good Inc.' to a children's choir on the closing stretch. Behind the animated characters designed by Jamie Hewlett sits Damon Albarn's songwriting, moody and melodic at once. It plays like a night drive through a city that can't sleep.
When was Demon Days released?
Demon Days was released in 2005.
Who made Demon Days?
Demon Days is by Gorillaz.
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A few thoughts on Demon Days
Past the two singles, the album flows as one long nocturnal mood, so let it run rather than cherry-picking tracks. If the blend of hip-hop, dub, and gloom appeals, this is a full-length experience, best heard in order and late, when its darker undertow makes the most sense.
Genre-blending pop for a late-night drive
Demon Days threads hip-hop, dub, and gospel into moody after-dark pop under Danger Mouse's production. These records share that nocturnal, guest-and-producer-driven sprawl, refusing to sit in one genre while keeping real hooks. Put them on for the same night-drive-through-a-broken-world feeling Gorillaz do so well.
Trip-hop and dark electronica to get lost in
The shadowy, beat-driven half of Demon Days lives here. These albums built the moody electronic sound Gorillaz drew on, all deep bass, half-lit atmosphere, and songs that unfold slowly in the dark. For when you want the album's murk without the cartoon guests.
Rock acts reinventing themselves through electronics
Damon Albarn built Gorillaz partly to escape the guitar band, and these are records where other rock artists did the same. They plug into drum machines, samples, and studio trickery to chase new sounds, sharing Demon Days' restless, art-school urge to blow up the old formula.