Charger (song)
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"Charger" is a song by British
virtual band In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, virtual artists, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose depicted members are not people, but animate ...
Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...
, released on their fifth studio album ''
Humanz ''Humanz'' is the fifth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 28 April 2017 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States. It was the band's first studio album released in seven years, fo ...
''. It features guest vocals by
Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...
, who accompanies lead singer
Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...
throughout the track.


Composition and recording


Origins

One of Damon Albarn's goals during the production of ''Humanz'' was to represent female artists more thoroughly. Speaking in an interview, Albarn listed
Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack ( ; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's ...
,
Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...
, and
Ibrahim Ferrer Ibrahim Ferrer (20 February 1927 – 6 August 2005) was a Cuban singer who played with the group Los Bocucos for nearly forty years. He also performed with Conjunto Sorpresa, Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental, and Mario Patterson. After his re ...
as examples of musical "patriarchs" who he'd already collaborated with; Albarn desired to collaborate with "matriarchs" as well, believing it necessary for an album titled "Humanz". According to Albarn, he and Jones had met several times before recording "Charger" together: "I'd met her once in her nightclub, where I made the mistake of saying she looked like
Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" () is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European Fable, folk tales. It was later retold in the 19th-century by the Broth ...
because she was wearing a red cape. She turned around and said 'Little ''Black'' Riding Hood,' and turned back. I didn't speak to her again." Despite the misstep in introductions, Jones later attended a performance of Albarn's '' Monkey: Journey to the West'', admitting to Albarn that she enjoyed it. Jones and Albarn were acquainted through mutual management affiliates, though Albarn emphasized that it didn't make the process of collaborating with her any easier.


Recording

Scheduling proved difficult from the onset, with Albarn claiming that it took about four months to secure a recording day with Jones. During this period, Albarn continued work on "Charger"; by the time Jones was available to record, Albarn had already constructed an instrumental onto which an unnamed vocalist sang over, presumed to be
Pauline Black Belinda Magnus (born 23 October 1953), better known as Pauline Black (), is an English singer, actress and author. In a music career spanning over 40 years, Black came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the 2 Tone ska reviva ...
, as she is featured on the Super Deluxe version of the song. Once Jones and Albarn had gathered in the studio, Albarn played the song to her. Jones was initially ambivalent, complaining about a "noise." Albarn repeatedly questioned Jones on what the noise might be, eventually coming to his conclusion that Jones wasn't satisfied with the other vocalist's singing. After Albarn removed the unnamed singer's vocals from "Charger," Jones was prepared to begin recording. Commenting on the moment, Albarn said: "She wouldn't say it was this other person's voice. Once the voice had been taken off, the track was ready to work on. Some people don't necessarily want to be on the same tune with somebody else." Jones' recording session was prolonged and frenetic, lasting four hours. Jones ad-libbed much of the session, and with such intensity that Albarn was taken aback: "It's slightly supernatural, her energy. Not entirely of this world." Some time after the recording session, Albarn covered the studio floor with pieces of paper with Jones' lyrics printed on them, crafting the lyrics to "Charger" from whichever fragments he felt were suitable. Album recording engineer Stephen Sedgwick’s final mix session of "Charger" contains 90 separate tracks.


Critical reception

"Charger" has received generally positive reviews: both ''
Q Magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...
'' and ''
Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...
'' listed it as one of ''Humanz highlight tracks, with the latter commenting: "Sure, Grace Jones' insidious laughter on 'Charger' while industrial beats scratch behind her may seem out of place, but it's one of Gorillaz's best songs to date, pushing the
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
playlist setup of the album into a decidedly disordered flash of color and sound." Some critics took pleasure in the dichotomy between Albarn and Jones' vocals, with ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' characterizing "Charger" as a track "where Grace Jones bares some
sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...
-like teeth over a distorted two-note line ..while Albarn's bewildered vocals splutter out in flouncy dribs and drabs. So strange, it's fantastic."


Personnel

*
Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...
– vocals, guitar, drums, synthesizer *
Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...
– vocals * Remi Kabaka Jr. – drum programming *
The Twilite Tone Anthony Christopher Khan (né Craig; born July 13, 1971), known by his stage name The Twilite Tone, is an American record producer, recording artist, composer, DJ, and radio host. Among others, he has worked with Gorillaz, Kanye West, Common, B ...
– drums, additional synthesizer *John Davis – mastering engineer *Samuel Egglenton – additional engineering * Stephen Sedgwick – mixing engineer, recording engineer


References

{{authority control 2017 songs Grace Jones songs Gorillaz songs Songs written by Damon Albarn Songs written by Grace Jones Electro songs English rock songs Neo-psychedelia songs