Singles

The Good bad, and the Queen - Kingdom of Doom

James Ainsworth 27/01/2007

Rating: 3/5

On paper, a super group, by definition of its very name should be an amalgamation of the great, coming together in perfect musical talent conjunction to produce the kind of music that blows you away. TGTBTQ on paper/beer mat, in a pub in 'ackney must have sounded great by the 8th pint, but in reality they offer little more than well constructed and pleasing on the ear piano plonking ditties that will see them embark on many a tour of the finer music halls of this country. Naturally they will be making a quick buck on the back of the fact the front man is of a high enough profile, that any record label would kill to sign an act to which Albarn belongs in order to fund themselves for future failures. If this band were a bunch of nobodies, they wouldn't progress past playing in a smoke-filled backroom of one of the capital's murkiest pubs every Saturday night.

Kingdom of Doom is a dark and brooding jaunt into storytelling through song with a delicate narrative painting black and white pictures of poignancy and landscapes of emotion covered in shadow. By virtue of Albarn's haunting vocal, this sounds Blurlite but the comparison ends there. The delicacy of the line “A love song for the collaboration you and me will never be,” as elegant a summation as you could wish for in union with the atmospheric production which swirls around your feet like mist on a Dickensian marshland.