‘Clint Eastwood’: The song that defines Damon Albarn’s genius
I never thought I would be talking about how a floppy-haired boy from the south of England, who would grow up to wear tinted sunglasses and a gold tooth, as someone I hold in such high esteem, but here we are. No matter what you think of the more innocent Damon Albarn of yesteryear, or his more East London coded present-day self, his influence on music isn’t up for dispute.
Not only was he the fearless leader of the 1990s “second” most influential band, but he was the creative force behind Gorillaz. His kudos for both projects have seen him become the only artist in history to headline Glastonbury with two different bands, over consecutive years. He’s as prolific as he is mercurial but feels deeply connected to the everyman of music, for his genius hinges on an instinctual sense of feel, as opposed to high-brow theoretical training.
Those kernels of great ideas we mortals feel as though we have once in a blue moon, born from a fleeting moment when we truly understand our own observational voice, are what he has built his legacy on. Not on the back of being some sort of a virtuoso mastering an instrument that makes him completely inaccessible. But it’s important to note that the ability to maximise that instinct is genius in itself.
Anyone who has ever tried to launch their own creative endeavour would know that having an idea is one thing, but a nuanced and accomplished execution of it is another. So while everyone could have owned a Suzuki Omnichord at the turn of the millennium, not everyone could have created ‘Clint Eastwood’.
In a 2023 interview with Zane Lowe, Albarn picked up the old instrument and played one of its presets. The riff was instantly recognisable as Gorillaz’ seminal 2001 hit, and Albarn shrugged with a grin and claimed, “It’s the Rock One preset… that’s the whole song.”
The news rang around subreddits like wildfire, as people were swift to question their own fandom of the band as well as Albarn’s legacy as one of the greats. Okay, sure, he used a pre-set upon which to build his hit song, but you think that’s all its success was hinged on? You may as well go and resign yourself to the artificial overlords now if that’s your stance.
Plenty have messed around with synthesisers and keyboards, flicking through presets like a television guide, swiftly bypassing the melodic merit in any of them. What separates Albarn from the rest is the instant spark of an explorative idea that came from the simple processing of that preset. If anything, there’s an enhanced difficulty in sampling a bare-bones melody like a preset compared to a developed song or tune, whereby most of the artistic merit is already on show.
Combine all of that with the very idea that ‘Clint Eastwood’ marked the lead single of a daring new project for Albarn. His success with Blur had confined him to the expectations of Britpop. On the other hand, the decision to market his new two-man project under the guise of four cartoon holograms in a genre desperate to parody indie artists for failing to understand its nuance, not to mention his entire move to electronic hip-hop, was destined to fail if not done properly.
Leading with a single built around a preset not only put two fingers up to the guitar-loving crew of the 1990s, but it completely ripped up the rulebooks of conventional success and inspired a wave of bedroom musicians to flourish. To explore an Omnichord preset in the face of all that danger was a move of unflinching genius that elevated Albarn’s impact on music beyond the realms of continued success, more than Blur could have ever provided.
