The new Gorillaz album may not explicitly be about Donald Trump, but he was undoubtedly the record’s impetus. And if the first batch of songs released from the album were escapist fantasies from this new political climate, Gorillaz’s latest, “Let Me Out,” with the legendary Mavis Staples and Pusha T, is a message of enduring reality by fighting to alter it. “You got to die a little if you wanna live / change is coming / you best be ready for it,” Mavis preaches in a verse similar to her lines on the anti-Trump protest song she did with Arcade Fire. “Something out the country / Fear is about to change it all / It’s a shift in times / But I won’t get tired at all,” 2D later sings. Trump’s name isn’t spoken — he’s even bleeped out of Pusha’s first verse — because he’s far from being the only threat. Pusha’s emotional plea makes that crystal clear: “Tell me there’s a chance for me to make it out the streets / Tell me that I won’t die at the hands of the police / Promise me I won’t outlive my nephew and my niece.” If only this song were long enough to last four years.
