Everyday robots

It is generally accepted ^{[2] [4] [9] [10]} that Everyday Robots is Albarn’s first solo studio album, although sometimes they include ^[11] Mali Music (2002), released together with three other artists ^[12] , Democrazy (2007) ^[13] and Dr. Dee (2012) ^[14] . Albarn is also the leader of Blur , Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad and the Queen .

Speaking on BBC 6 Music on the upcoming album, Albarn said that he first wanted to put together a band to record new material, but the producer was Richard Russell told him that he would like to produce the work of Albarn himself ^[9] .

At that moment, it seemed to me that this could be exactly what I should do, because I did not do this before.

Original text

At that point it occurred to me that that might be something that I should probably do, 'cos i haven't done it before.

- Damon Albarn on BBC 6 Music

When Russell suggested Albarn record a disc after his work on Bobby Womack's disc, Albarn had over 60 sketches. The main theme of the album is the relationship between people ^[15] . Lyrics of the album appeal to the most melancholy, hidden sides of Albarn. Speaking about them, he said that the first texts to be used in the album were written back in 1976. He also added that “every line on this record really happened” ^[9] .

For example, “Mr. Tembo ”is written about an orphan elephant whom Albarn met on one of his trips to Africa . He met him in Mkomazi in Tanzania . “Mr. Tembo” locals originally called the airfield. Albarn walked there and met a little white elephant, for whom he sang, having recorded singing on the telephone. This blank was heard by Russell and advised Albarn to "bring the number to mind."

“You and Me,” in turn, partially narrates about Albarn’s dependence on heroin ^[16] , which appeared in his 1990s, and which he soon got rid of ^[17] .

The album was recorded at Damon Albarn's studio “ Studio 13 ” in West London ^[18] . Natasha Khan (better known as Bat for Lashes) and Brian Eno participated in the recording of the album. Ino's vocals will be played in “Heavy Seas of Love”, and Natasha Khan’s voice will be played in “The Selfish Giant”. Albarn said Khan would sing like his “phantom echo” ^{[19] [20]} . In addition to them, the choir The Leytonstone City Mission Choir was invited to record, which is located in the Pentecostal church on the street where Albarn lived. ^[15]

First single “ Everyday Robots "Was released on March 3, 2014, and the music video for the song was released on YouTube on January 20, 2014. The director of the video was Aitor Thrup ( born Aitor Throup ) ^{[21] [10]} . On the released single, in addition to the song “Everyday Robots”, there was a second track that was not announced on the album - “Electric Fences” ^[22] . On February 27, 2014, Albarn released a video for his song “ Lonely Press Play ”. The video is notable for the fact that Albarn shot it on his iPad ^{[23] [24]} .

The work began with the fact that I went for a walk around my native places and filmed what is now on my iPad . It was like an archaeological site. In this way, I erased the boundaries between the present and the past, so that everything would be reproduced in memory very clearly.

- Damon Albarn in an interview with Rolling Stone ^[15]

Albarn first performed songs from the new album at the 30th Sundance Film Festival . “ Lonely Press Play ,” “ Everyday Robots ,” “Hollow Ponds,” “Hostiles,” “You And Me,” from Albarn’s new album, as well as “ On Melancholy Hill ” by Gorillaz and “ To the End ” Blur ^{[25] 26]} . To tour while promoting the album, Albarn put together a concert band called The Heavy Seas. It consists of guitarist Seye ( English Seye ), drummer Paul Stanley-Mackenzie , bassist Jeff Wootton and Mike Smith on the keyboards ^[27] . On iTunes, the album became available for listening on April 22, 2014, 6 days before the official release ^[3] .

Later videos of the songs “Heavy Seas of Love” (released on April 22, 2014) ^[28] and “Mr Tembo” (released on May 13, 2014) were released. In the video for the song “Mr Tembo,” the entire Albarn band The Heavy Seas and the chorus of The Leytonstone City Mission Choir appeared on the album; shots were also included with the real Mr. Tembo - an elephant. This video was shot at the Pentecostal City Mission Church in Leightstone, near Albarn’s house ^[29] .

Words and music of all songs - Damon Albarn .

The criticism of the album was mostly positive. On the Metacritic website , the album is rated 76 out of 100 based on 37 professional reviews by music critics.

In his review of the album, John Dolan of Rolling Stone called the song “ Everyday Robots ” expressive, primitive, but at the same time startlingly modern. The best song on the album, he called "Hollow Ponds". In general, he rated the album positively, gave him 4 stars out of 5, and said that Albarn is a tireless innovator in the world of music.

The editor-in-chief of the Russian version of Rolling Stone Alexander Kondukov , evaluating the album, also gave 4 stars out of 5 and described the album as follows: “a gentle meditative album with a whining tone about a sad British man who is traveling around London with a voice recorder travels abroad to chat with Malian musicians, to sing a song to the Tanzanian elephant calf and to participate in the Trinidad carnival. " Summing up, Alexander Kondukov said that insanity, mumbling and strangeness were beautifully presented.

Allmusic website editor Thomas Erlevine rated the album 4 stars out of 5. He wrote that the album is like a long meditation on the present and the past. He also noted that the sound of the album is very interesting - a mixture of electronic instruments and acoustic, strategically placed text. Erlevine concluded the review with a verdict: if you are single, you will listen to it.

Spin music magazine reviewer Garrett Camps said that "Albarn’s songs are at least clouding consciousness: they are heavy, melancholy and marvelous." He expressed the opinion that this album is Albarn's best work at the moment, although he expected a completely different style. After Blur and Gorillaz, Camps expected something similar, however, “Albarn is growing,” and this album is the antithesis of all Albarn’s previous work.

In September 2014, Everyday Robots was nominated for one of the most prestigious music awards in the UK - “ Mercury Prize ” ^[43] , but the prize went to Dead Young Fathers ^[44] .

Immediately after the release, the album debuted in second place in the national charts of the musical albums of Scotland and Great Britain The Official Charts Company . In the United States, the album’s top position was the 32nd line of the Billboard 200 music album charts . Also, the album achieved great success in Ireland (3rd place in the national charts), Denmark (4th), Hungary , France and Sweden (all - 6th place).

• Damon Albarn - vocals , keyboards , guitar
• Richard Russell - drums
• Brian Eno - vocals in the song "Heavy Seas Of Love", synthesizer
• Natasha Khan - vocals in the song "The Selfish Giant"
• The Leytonstone City Mission Choir, Veona Byfield Bowen , Margurita Edwards , Celia Murphy , Mary Oldacre , Patsy Walsh - choir
• Nicholas Hugham - French Horn
• Dan Carpenter - Trumpet
• Chris Chen Timothy Leary Robert Morley - Speech
• The Demon Strings , Elizabeth Dunn , Olli Langford , Stella Page , Antonia Pagulatos , Alice Pratley , Cotono Sato - strings
• Olli Langford - Cello
• Simon Tong - guitar ^{[66] [15]}

• The official Everyday Robots YouTube video
• The official Lonely Press Play YouTube video
• The official Heavy Seas of Love video on YouTube
• The official Mr Tembo YouTube video