It seems that March will be a great month of music leaks and what not as we went into the month with Crookers’ Tons of Friends and today we are blessed with Gorillaz’ Plastic Beach. It’s been 5 years since the release of Demon Days so fans and hipsters alike were awaiting this album somethin’ serious. So how does the album fair?

Plastic Beach initially sets off with an “Orchestral Intro” that sets the album’s melancholy mood off just right with its beauuuutiful string instruments. As each track progresses from next to next it is obvious that this album is NOT Demon Days. This may be disappoint the casual fans as it was their second album’s fun and almost happy-go-lucky vibe that opened them up to a more mainstream audience. There are however some happier moments during the listening session and one of those moments would be “On Melancholy Hill.” How ironic that the title of the song that somewhat defines the mood of the album is one of the songs that would fit a bright sunny day on a, well, beach.

One thing is for sure, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the gents behind the virtual band are true artists. Reason being, the music of Plastic Beach is a genuine evolution of the band’s music. Casual fans may take a break this era, true fans will stick around and new fans will be obtained. There is no doubt that Plastic Beach is a very solid album. The album will hit music outlets on March 3, 2010 in Japan, March 5, 2010 in Australia and Germany, March 8, 2010 in Ireland, New Zealand and the UK and finally will hit the US and Canada on March 9, 2010.

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