#celebration-of-life

#celebration-of-life

Albarn and Hewlett, joined by producers James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, percussionist Remi Kabaka Jr. and Argentine EDM DJ Bizarrap, recorded the album all over the world, making for their most cosmopolitan affair yet, and mostly for the better. While unexpected artistic pairings have become less novel in their quarter century since 2001's Gorillaz broke down genre lines, Albarn still has a flair for the unexpected.

The problem is that if there is only a focus on celebrating this life-or an entry into a next life-we deny and disenfranchise the legitimate grief that mourners experience. Someone loved has died. Whatever comfort is offered by the nature of the life and legacies of the deceased-or the beliefs of an afterlife, however defined-does not change that in funerals mourners gather to say goodbye to someone they loved.