Merrie land is the second album from The Good, The Bad and The Queen, a band comprising of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong. Their debut album from 2007 traced a journey from the English music hall tradition to West Africa and Afrobeat, zigzagging through the West Indies and its reggae and dub, back to England and London's punk scene, all the while taking in a strand of British beat music from the '50s right through to Britpop. The result was a record specific to a place and mood but with a background that was geographically wide-ranging. Now the four musical storytellers are back with a new studio album titled Merrie Land.
Produced by Tony Visconti and The Good, The Bad and The Queen was completed in London and Wales this year, during the current ongoing period in which the UK is preparing to leave the European Union, Merrie Land is a questioning good-bye letter, a series of observations and reflections on Britishness in 2018. Even though it has been over 10 years since the band last released a record, the timing could not be more apt – there could not be a more perfect band to untangle the optimism, disorientation and confusion in the atmosphere today.
With Merrie Land, the band taps into a creative symbiosis of past and future, drawing inspiration from their shared glittering musical histories and wrapping the hybrid results in a brilliantly postmodern yet thoroughly British package. The album sees the band’s focus move beyond London with a beautiful and hopeful paean to the Britain of today - an inclusive Britain - and the possibilities of the future. In the band’s own words, Merrie Land is a ten song lament of Anglo-Saxosentialism marking the reluctant end of a relationship, and about picking up the pieces and seeing what can be salvaged. The band set a beautifully muted palette and lustrous finish to bring out a mood that is bruised yet unapologetically defiant and optimistic, and carries the underlying message: we will survive.
In times of metaphysical trauma, the people need to forge ahead and wear armour. Here it is, set to the mood music of a nation about to be broken yet undefeated.

1. Law of Attraction
2. SPIRAL
3. Foggy Moon
4. Dearest Dinosaur
5. because I know
6. Episode 33
7. Bloody Mary Girl
8. Foggy Moon
9. Floating city
10. From Now On
11. Day Tripper

《金桔希子》是落日飛車沈寂五年後的新作品，在成員的更迭後，重新探索新的曲風，從以往六零年代的車庫搖滾晃入了七零年代的成人抒情，但仍然不改飛車輕鬆愜意，浪漫中又帶著戲謔的情境氛圍。

如果无意间听到《余波》，你大概会怀疑这是一张来自上世纪末的唱片——九十年代浪漫的复古鼓点，器乐音色充满老式舞厅的斑斓，还有时下很难听见的传统合声。《余波》像是生长着一副老灵魂，那种旧式的诗意和优雅有时让这支年轻乐队显得有些不合时宜。
两年前的首张EP《愚梦方醒》里不抱希望的少年如今寻找着对抗生活的方法，一面小心翼翼地观察自己和世界的距离，一面享用着路上的瞬息万变、川流不息。
经过一次重要的成员变更，22岁的主唱/吉他手沈帜整理了乐队近两年的作品，和贝斯手肖强、鼓手李文共同完成了卧轨的火车第一张正式专辑《余波》。这张唱片由在万晓利、边远、海草少年军、鸭听天等多支乐队担任乐手的独立制作人/录音师李平操刀，并由美国知名母带师Josh Bonati完成母带制作——令乐队兴奋的是，这位母带师曾制作了他们喜欢的Lo-Fi怪才Mac DeMarco的唱片，其经手的乐队里还有Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing, The Soft Moon, Psychic Ills, DIIV等这些耳熟能详的名字。
与通常的录音室专辑不同的是，这张唱片所有的器乐部分，是在义乌隔壁酒吧的演出空间里完成的同期录音。隔壁酒吧坐落城郊山野，由一座废弃道观改造而来，住着疯癫奇怪的老板们，随时都有喝不完的酒。道观声场天然独特，高悬的顶梁结构便于那些迷离的旋律自在游走。恰逢盛夏，乐队三人和录音师李平同住山上，日夜呼吸着慵懒的空气。一切在不息的蝉鸣里进行，往往从午后开始一天的录音，断断续续到深夜。偶尔强迫症发作，免不了在电脑前一遍遍梳理每个音符到天明。但遇上了雷雨，几个人也不急，索性停下来喝一杯。
虽然怀着他们年轻的忧虑，但梦幻多变的旋律里写满了属于这个年纪的甜蜜与沉醉，饱满的情绪像青春期的“余波”层层荡开。整张唱片弥漫着矛盾的色彩感，隐现干燥的异域旋律很迷人。既不失《沙》这样有血有肉的躁郁，也有《柠檬白兰地》的温柔深情。《灰》里穿插的萨克斯即兴是录音时的神来之笔，错落的戏剧感打破了原有的规整。《魂断记》更是跳出旧作框架，沈帜的念白像是梦醒之后的诉说，抽离慵懒。
《余波》里有种虚弱，但这种源于敏感的虚弱毫无疑问是动人的。沈帜的歌词干净但生动，在飘渺中隐藏着困惑和怀疑。他们忠实自身的无力，忠诚于生活的无意义，青年们的冲动却在他们身上以另一种方式呈现。在这张唱片里，沈帜也不再像《愚梦方醒》里那样毫无保留的用力抒情，而是让虚弱易碎的情绪在声音里流淌，在器乐营造出的层层叠叠的氛围里缓慢发酵。
《余波》像是从更遥远的未来对记忆发出可有可无的感怀，又仿佛是描绘着另一个世界的现实，目光所及是失落小城里的日常，人间的欢声笑语在空气中来回穿梭、回响。