Following up a debut album like 2006’s critically acclaimed smash-hit St. Elsewhere automatically puts a band in a sort of critical Catch-22; change too much and risk alienating fans and critics alike, don’t change enough and put your all-important creative “credibility” on the line. It’s a fine line to walk, and with the abrupt and early release of The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley has stepped onto the tightrope. Fortunately, with hordes of fans ranging from your avid 14-year-old future-Real-World-applicant to the most discerning of Julliard production geeks, this duo has a reliable safety net for any eventuality. The Odd Couple leans for credibility, and with a more mature but subdued sound, slips off into the waiting arms of the critics and connoisseurs.
Cee-Lo’s gospel roots shine over the dense diversity of beats thrown down by Danger Mouse, creating a much more cohesive and tightly-produced sophomore effort. An understated, almost muted production pervades the album; it’s as if one is listening through a thick velvet curtain, and combined with the extraordinarily soulful vocal delivery it serves to tie the whole project together despite the laundry list of beats that Danger Mouse brings to the table. It works particularly well on tracks like album highlight, “Surprise” where the pair somehow combine Cee-Lo’s distinctive wail and a vaguely Latin riff with a stuttering drum roll and Beach Boys-esque chorus into a near-perfect distillation of cultural influences. Even the more upbeat tracks, like the single “Run,” and another standout, “Blind Mary” maintain the musical and thematic minor key and subtlety that sets this release apart from the frenetic schizophrenia of St. Elsewhere.
This polish and overarching melancholy leaves Gnarls Barkley sounding all grown up–which is unfortunately often just a euphemism for the slow and bitter realization that life is nowhere near as great as you thought it was when you didn’t know any better. The Odd Couple’s maturity is also its weakness; the youthful vitality, the tongue-in-cheek unpredictability and beautiful insanity that gave us the ubiquitous “Crazy,” and managed to sell depression, suicide and necrophilia to the masses is now gone–and missed. As much as I respect The Odd Couple on a critical and intellectual level, it’s just too smooth, too willing to fade into the background and forgo the limelight that the duo so righteously snatched from the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Nelly back in 2006. Although ?uestlove may disagree, I miss the humor, flippancy, and yes, the craziness, of their debut. In many ways that represents a step forward for the band, but The Odd Couple also remains a disappointment in that regard.
