There is a moment on Gnarls Barkley's new record that gives the listener, as some refer to it, a moment of clarity.
That moment happens on track six, "Open Book." It opens with an ambitiously epic drumbeat that refuses to settle down for anyone, be it musical instrument or beast. This syncopated mammoth competes with everything in the song: The central tribal beat that plays off the jungle ambiance, the dramatic strings that seem straight out of a blockbuster action flick, and even Cee-Lo Green's complementary-yet-paradoxical verses that boast, "When I sing a song of peace / it soothes the savage beast."
Suddenly, amid all this musical hysteria, the title of this record, The Odd Couple, makes a lot more sense.
It's not just a coincidence: Gnarls Barkley -- that is, singer Cee-Lo Green and producer Danger Mouse -- truly are an odd couple.
However, the odd musical styling and mixture of their electronic, neo-soul infused hip-hop is what makes these guys so refreshing. On Barkley's debut album St. Elsewhere, the duo successfully mixed Green's soulful vocals and Mouse's anything-but-conventional instrumentation into a musical experience aptly described as "crazy."
But this time around, the acceleration has been put on halt. While St. Elsewhere was comparable to a 90 mph joyride in your grandparents' '52 Cadillac, The Odd Couple is more like going 70 in a 65 with a '93 Cavalier. There are some interesting maneuvers that Barkley is pulling, but nothing that's pushing the limits too extensively. The somber tone that seems to blanket this record, both musically and lyrically, detracts from the album.
However, the dominantly downcast music it isn't as culpable compared to the odd juxtaposition that runs rampant throughout this album.
Lyrically, Green leans heavily toward adolescent concerns this time around. There is some obvious tongue-in-cheek going on here and there ("Shut up mom! It is not okay / I'm alone almost every day," he sings on "Whatever") but it becomes unclear as to the purpose of this contrived conflict.
Luckily, this only occasionally affects the actual music. Half of these songs provide such dazzling musical landscapes that the listener might forget about this business of somber attitudes.
"Going On" opens with a hazy guitar melody that surrounds your ears like a cloud of smoke before launching into a friendly '60s dance beat that ends up bringing the melody full circle.
"Neighbors" features a worldly electronic beat that has Green singing about the act of coveting thy neighbor, while electronic melodies scatter like raindrops. The aforementioned "Open Book" mixes Green at his rawest -- shouting to the heavens, "Karma! / Take me! / Karma! / Break me!" -- and Mouse's manipulative production as he creates a memorable map of musical reality.
There are definitely points when this record seems to pale in comparison to St. Elsewhere, but conversely, there are points when it seems this record is almost ready to pop. Green and Mouse are indeed an odd but fruitful musical coupling.
Grade: B
