The Cold Cut

Rating: Another album full of dark soul songs.... sure to divide

Things are beginning to look up- I chanced upon a copy of 'The Odd Couple' for review. Enjoy, and make sure you buy the album, now released on, and digitally today.

The quality of 'St. Elsewhere'- as an album- was eclipsed by the shining brilliance of 'Crazy', and to a lesser extent, 'Smily Faces'. In some ways, it's in Gnarls Barkley's best interest that 'Run' isn't an earth-shaking single. Rather than purely focussing on the songs individually, I hope that people will take a long look at this album as a whole. However, my review will take the opposite approach, breaking this album down into the sum of its parts, in chronological order. Needless to say, they are all just small pieces of the puzzle. Let's begin:

NB- Ratings from 1 to 10. 1 is unlistenable, 5 is mediocre, 10 a song that will complete you. Highly recommended songs come with links...

Charity Case- Essentially a sped up version of 'The Boogie Monster' with some extra bells on, they really run with the idea, adding dense swarms of 'oohs', 'aahs' and assorted harmonies. 9/10

Who's Gonna Save My Soul- ?uestlove wanted to leak this one, and not without reason. Its one of the few moments where Dangermouse sits back and lets Cee-Lo flesh out the song, and its a high point (low in terms of mood). The soul influences run free... 9/10

Going On- A few nice ingredients: hand claps... the gentle squeling of guitars. Both discarded half way through for a session of call-and-response. 8/10

Run- It was never going to match 'Crazy'. The expectation obviously didn't bother Cee-Lo and Dangermouse, and why should it? After all, who needs to worry when they can reel off songs like this: jaunty, bubbly pop, stuffed into a frantic 3 minutes. Still, when stacked up against the other strongest songs on the album, its surprisingly comes off looking almost average. 8/10

Would Be Killer- The song opens with the cocking of a gun. Unusual for Gnarls. However, it develops into much more than that, and Cee-Lo shows his versatility, morphing his usual bellow into a subdued whisper. 8/10

Open Book- The song is strongly influenced by the slightly disarming beat. Even Dangermouse makes mistakes, and this is one of the few. The beat doesn't allow the song to get off the ground. 6/10

Whatever- The pair embrace their inner child, with Cee-Lo behaving like a brat, having a tantrum. The lyrics point towards the thought of being a loner, and they have fun embracing the character. 7/10
"Said fuck me, well fuck you too
I know it sounds real sad but its true
Being alone is nothing new"

Suprise- What have we here? A soul song evoking thoughts of the Wild West? It really shouldn't work, but once again, they pull it off, if not purely through the sheer force of Cee-Lo's conviction. 8/10

No Time Soon- In essence a ballad, but Dangermouse moves into new territory with electronic bleeps and synthesised sounds. 9/10

She Knows- A throwback with a serious 60/70s vibe. It's passable, but not great. 6/10

Blind Mary- An oddball. Beginning with the hypnotic sounds of a carnival, it develops into a lolloping ode to Mary, the blind girl who can't see Cee-Lo, and must instead opt for his inner workings. Verging on filler. 6/10

Neighbours- A passionate tune. Bongo drums, variety, and Cee-Lo. Enough to carry a song. 8/10

A Little Better- Drama, and lots of it. Lyrically the strongest song on the album, Cee-Lo sounds like a tortured soul, veering straight into the cordoned off area reserved for the blues. 9/10

Taken as it should be- an album- 'The Odd Couple' acquits itself admirably. Just as with 'St. Elsewhere', the production is ambitious and very occasionally overreaching, but Cee-Lo's voice is always there to fall back on. However, I can already see it dividing- there are some really great moments, and a few songs that bomb, but overall this is another brilliant album from the collaboration, and its more than enough to keep me coming back for more. The more shallow members of the critique might damn this album purely for the lack of 'Crazy', but in doing so, they will be ignoring one of the albums of 2008.

The release date of 'The Odd Couple' was brought forward to today. Buy it now.

Gnarls Barkley- Who's Gonna Save My Soul?

Just thought I would use a spare 15 minutes to keep you guys sated till this evening, when a full length post will follow. Earlier today, ?uestlove dropped a new song from the upcoming Gnarls Barkley release, 'The Odd Couple', on Youtube. 'Who's Gonna Save My Soul' is a nice lo-fi tune, with Dangermouse leaving plenty of room for Cee-Lo to showcase his voice. Accompanied by a marching drum and not a lot more, this is a song in the vein of 'St. Elsewhere'. Download it quick, before it disappears... Oh, and check out the interesting, slightly mediocre (official?) video below.

PS- I reckon I'm the first person in the world to post this (other than ?uestlove's video), so get it quick. Oh, and labels etc, I will be happy to take it down at your request!

Enough time has passed for me to face the prospect of even mentioning Gnarls Barkley again. The first few times I heard 'Crazy', it gave me the goosebumps, but over the months it became an unstoppable juggernaut, seemingly following me from place to place, in its original form or transformed into the thousands of covers, remixes and re-tools which dominated the music world for months. But as much as I grew bored of it, the song was fully deserving of its critical and commercial acclaim.

A couple of days ago, Mission Freak leaked a new Gnarls Barkley song called 'Run', said to be a part of a new album, 'The Odd Couple', which is due out in April. This is an exciting leak, purely because it's great to have concrete proof that Cee-Lo and Dangermouse are continuing to create music under the guise of Gnarls Barkley. I must admit, I had my doubts after they pulled 'Crazy' from the download charts, saying that it had 'had its time'.

The song itself isn't anything new, but I find its familiarity both comforting and enjoyable. Cee-Lo and Dangermouse are sticking firmly to their comfort zones: DM with old-school samples and Cee-Lo with his now-trademark soulful intensity. Fortunately, they don't need to do anything else to stand out from the crowd.

'Run' is no 'Crazy', but given the hype surrounding this band, it will still set the world alight. If my gut instincts are on the money, this isn't a potential single, and the second album may have much more to offer. Okay, so Rolling Stone have heard the 'latest cuts' and were slightly impressed, but I doubt Gnarls are going to reveal all their tricks months before the release.

Get your hands on it now, before it disappears in a puff of smoke...

Gnarls Barkley- Run

(Link removed at request of label)

P.S.- This song is a legal nightmare, so its only going up on yousendit. 100 lucky people will get their hands on this track. Oh, and if the label is reading this, I will be more than happy to take it down for you. Peace...