You could say that Gorillaz is a pretty well-known band nowadays. Even if people don’t know the name, they’ll remember hits like “Clint Eastwood” or “19-2000” when the song is played for them. As for Fleetwood Mac? That’s a household name. And like most bands, the name people recognize the most is Stevie Nicks. And for good reason; the woman is one of the most talented and highly acclaimed artists of all time (in my humble opinion of course).
Gorillaz has a long history of having songs featuring other artists; mostly because of the fact that their band is actually a single musician, Damon Albarn, and an animator helping him create the fictional band, so if Gorillaz is to have anything that isn’t just Albarn’s voice, they need to enlist others. That being said, I never expected Stevie Nicks of all people to perform alongside the fake lead singer 2-D.
Oil stands out to me for a few reasons – besides the obvious fact that one of the best singers of all time is in it. The style isn’t very similar to the style of the music in Gorillaz’s last few albums in my opinion, and I haven’t actually gotten to listen to all of their music off the new album Cracker Island (the album that "Oil" is featured on). But hey, if it’s as good as Oil, I’m sure it’ll be one of my favorites!
"Oil" is full of profound lyrics like:
“Don't think that my heart is a sad affair without you
Individual actions change the world
Fill them up with love”,
which is heavily reminiscent of Nicks’ career with Fleetwood Mac. The song is a good balance between the more electronic sound of Gorillaz and the more traditional style of Nicks’ rock background. It’s an enjoyable listen with deeper lyrics than expected of something with a name like "Oil".
You can listen to it here!