"Momentary Bliss" is a song by British

virtual band In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animat ...

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...

, featuring British rapper

Slowthai Tyron Kaymone Frampton (born 18 December 1994), better known by his stage name Slowthai (stylised in lowercase), is a British rapper. Raised in Northampton, he rose to popularity in 2019 for his gritty and rough instrumentals and raw, politica ...

and the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

-based punk rock duo

Slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. The song was the first song to be released for Gorillaz' ''

Song Machine ''Song Machine'' is an audiovisual project by British virtual band Gorillaz. It is a music video web series consisting of a collection of music videos and singles that are released monthly by the band as episodes of the series, with each episod ...

'' initiative, a web series consisting of singles and music videos released over the course of the year from the band, with each episode featuring different guest musicians on new Gorillaz material, and is the first single released for their seventh studio album, '' Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez''. This was the final single before Slaves change their band name "Soft Play".

Background and recording

"Momentary Bliss" was recorded in the summer of 2019 at Damon Albarn's Studio 13 in West London. Albarn had previously worked with Slaves as part of the

Africa Express ''Africa Express'' is a 1975 Italian adventure film starring Ursula Andress, Giuliano Gemma, and Jack Palance that was filmed in Rhodesia. A sequel ''Safari Express'' with the same leads followed a year later. Plot John Baxter is a freewheelin ...

project, with the band also previously working with Slowthai on his album ''

Nothing Great About Britain ''Nothing Great About Britain'' is the debut studio album by British rapper Slowthai. It was released on 17 May 2019 via Method Records. The album features guest appearances from British rappers Jaykae and Skepta, as well as production credits fr ...

'', on the song "Missing". The song was announced as being the first of eleven tracks to be released from Gorillaz' ''Song Machine'' initiative, which sees the band release a new song every month with previously unannounced collaborators. Damon Albarn and

Remi Kabaka Remi Kabaka (born 27 March 1945) is an Afro-rock avant-garde drummer. He worked with John Martyn, Hugh Masekela, on ''Rhythm of the Saints'' by Paul Simon, and ''Short Cut Draw Blood'' by Jim Capaldi. He was also an important figure in the 1970s af ...

spoke to

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

for the song's official premiere, saying that ''Song Machine'' "may have an obtuse narrative arc at the end of each season, but it's more ''

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...

'', than ''

Designated Survivor In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a named individual in the presidential line of succession, chosen to stay at an undisclosed secure location, away from events such as State of the Union addresses and pres ...

''. You just keep going until you run out of ideas." A press release was put out to explain the initiative further, with virtual Gorillaz member Russel Hobbs saying: "''Song Machine'' is a whole new way of doing what we do, Gorillaz breaking the mould 'cos the mould got old. World is moving faster than a supercharged particle, so we've gotta stay ready to drop. We don't even know who's stepping through the studio next. ''Song Machine'' feeds on the unknown, runs on pure chaos. So whatever the hell's coming, we're primed and ready to produce like there's no tomorrow."

Composition

Critics have described the single as punk rock,

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

, hip hop,

britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

and

reggae rock Reggae rock is a subgenre of reggae fusion and rock music that primarily uses the genres reggae, rock, and ska. Typical lyrics of reggae rock songs incorporate love, personal awareness, and life challenges while incorporating music and beat el ...

. Mark Beaumont of

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

described the song as “sci-fi ska”. Thereafter, Thomas Smith of

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

noted the punk timbre, describing the song as a “punk rager”. Damon Albarn utilizes an interpolation of the chorus of "

Lovely Rita "Lovely Rita" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It is about a meter maid and the narrat ...

" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

; this interpolation takes place before Slowthai's first verse, before 2-D's verse, and in both Holman's intro and ending chorus.

Music video

The song's music video was filmed at Albarn's studio in West London, featuring both Slowthai and Slaves. The video which premiered on 30 January 2020 features the band's animated characters recording the song with guests. The video also marked the return of

Murdoc Niccals Murdoc Faust Niccals (born Murdoc Alphonce Niccals) is the fictional British bassist for the virtual band Gorillaz. He is voiced by Phil Cornwell and was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. In the Gorillaz universe, Murdoc was respons ...

, who had been absent from the band's sixth studio album ''

The Now Now ''The Now Now'' is the sixth studio album recorded by the British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 29 June 2018 via Parlophone and Warner Bros. Records. Recording for the album began in late 2017 – according to Gorillaz co-creator Damo ...

''. In the video, directed by

Jamie Hewlett Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is an English comic book creator, illustrator, music video director, and songwriter. He is the co-creator of the comic book ''Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin and co-creator of the virtual band Gorilla ...

, Tim McCourt, and Max Taylor, Murdoc attempts to poison Albarn's drink during a recording session but ends up becoming sick after observing no side effects and testing the poison on himself.

Tracklist

Personnel

Gorillaz *

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

– vocals, instrumentation, director, guitar *

– artwork, character design, video direction *

Remi Kabaka Jr. Remi Kabaka Jr. (born 11 April 1970) is a British record producer, art director, percussionist and voice actor best known as the drummer and producer for British virtual band Gorillaz. He became a music producer for the band in 2015 after severa ...

– drum programming Additional musicians and personnel *

– vocals * Laurie Vincent – guitar, vocals * Isaac Holman – drums, vocals * Mike Dean – drum programming * Stephen Sedgwick – mixing engineer, engineering *Samuel Egglenton – engineering *John Davis – mastering engineer

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 songs 2020 singles Gorillaz songs British pop punk songs British punk rock songs Parlophone singles Reggae rock songs Slowthai songs Songs written by Damon Albarn Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by Remi Kabaka Jr. Songs written by Slowthai Song Machine Warner Records singles