Quite possibly the hardest working man in show business, no sooner had Gorillaz returned with last year’s excellent Humanz, than Damon Albarn was commencing work on its follow-up. Completed in a shorter time-frame than most Gorillaz records, The Now Now doesn’t feature the usual sprawling cast of collaborators, with Albarn handling the vocals on the majority of the tracks. Nonetheless, there are two fine contributions from George Benson on ‘Humility’ and Snoop Dogg and Jamie Principle on ‘Hollywood’; the former is an infectious slice of sunny pop, while the latter is brilliantly moody electro-funk effort. Elsewhere, there are seductive hip hop grooves courtesy of ‘Kansas’ and ‘Sorcererz’, while ‘Idaho’ and ‘Souk Eye’ are vintage slices of dream pop. Now on the go for 20 years, Gorillaz remain one of the most cutting edge pop acts around. Out now

Rating: 8/10