Cee-Lo Green recently revealed to Rolling Stone that he looks forward to “an onslaught of music this year”. He is currently trimming down his next solo LP, Girl Power, from “40 or 5 songs to about 13″, and also hopes to see a Gnarls Barkley LP by the end of the year, and possibly another Goodie Mob project.

“Technically and sonically, [I'm] working with new sounds,” he told RS. “I could be all artsy-fartsy describing it, but to me this is bare bones rock and roll; which at heart is who I feel like I am. I feel like I’m a rock artist. I don’t feel like I’m a pop artist. And I’m alt rock. I’m indie rock. I’m punk rock. Because it comes from the pots and pans. It’s a lot of me, but I’ve got multiple personalities.”

“I didn’t realize the importance of [a new Gnarls Barkley album] or the anticipation for it until recently,” he said. “I was going through an airport at about 5:45am on the way to Atlanta and a guy from TMZ asked me would I be working on another Gnarls. And I was like, ‘Yeah, next year.’ I was a little dismissive because I don’t want to get involved that early – but it just kind of went like wildfire. And I was like, ‘Wow, okay. People are still interested to see what we could do.’ And so am I. Gnarls Barkley is an alter ego and something like an out of body experience.”

As far as Goodie Mob is concerned, RS also reports that Cee-Lo and the crew have enough tracks for both a new album and this year’s re-release of Age Against The Machine.

“If I can release singles that coexist and don’t conflict with each other, then you’ll hear something new from Gnarls [this year] that will run concurrent with what I’m doing solo and with Goodie Mob,” he added. “Three totally different things.”

Cee-Lo Green tells an annoying TMZ reported that a Gnarls Barkley reunion will happen “Like, next year… Really”.

Cee-Lo celebrated his birthday out here in the city that never sleeps at Light Group’s new Haze Nightclub at Aria. Here, he performs a set of GB classics, “Smiley Faces”, “Gone Daddy Gone”, “Crazy” and “Run”? Ya’ll know this shit?

With what was supposed to be a one-off project becoming such a platinum success, like Hollywood, the music industry demanded a sequel. But can the mysterious Gnarls Barkley top their now classic debut, St. Elsewhere, or is this another case of the sophomore slump?

Borrowing another classic television show title, the duo returns with The Odd Couple, which couldn’t be a better description for them. Like many bands that achieve critical acclaim with their debut album, Gnarls Barkley now has the freedom to venture outside the lines and go a little deeper, a little more experimental, because now the whole world is listening.

Or not… Things have gotten off to a rough start this time around. Their debut single from this LP, “Run”, neglected to crossover and win a top spot on the charts like “Crazy” did, with it’s high-powered, 60’s psyche-rock sound. Meanwhile, the album’s release date itself was an ultimately confusing mess, after an internet leak shifted the release date up, killing any building momentum.

“Run”, while not as easily accessible as “Crazy” however, ultimately set the tone for the LP. The sounds of the original daisy age are evoked constantly, as songs like “Going On”, “Surprise”, “Whatever”, channel sounds from forty years back, whether soul, folk, or Brit rock. But, Cee-Lo still seems at best when in his element, with the more gospel flavored tracks, such as album opener “Charity Case” or the murky “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”.

But having the freedom to color outside the lines may not be the best direction for the band, if they wish to replicate the success of their debut. While far from bad, it feels like they go a little too far off the deep end on songs like “Open Book”, “She Knows”, and “Neighbors”, as these songs lack the more structured 16-bar verse and hook formula found on St. Elsewhere. Furthermore first LP was filled with many tightly knit concept songs (“Transformer” or “Necromancer” come to mind); and because this LP is so experimental, it’s concepts are much harder to grasp on to.

Still, this is a soulful record, and respect is due to Gnarls for not simply churning out a few clones of “Crazy” that may have guaranteed them success. With a million fans of St Eleswhere behind them, however, there will be a cult following that see The Odd Couple as sheer brilliance, but its heavy handedness will leave many in the dark. – D.T. Swinga

     And we buy it right up. 

     Luckily for him, Cee-Lo said “fuck hip-hop”, packed up his bags and took his act to a new land. Call it St. Elsewhere, a place that welcomes originality and experimentation. Here, he met up with newly crowned super-producer, DJ Danger Mouse, who just helped Damon Albarn reinvent Gorillaz, not to mention took MF Doom mainstream via Adult Swim with Danger Doom. Together they formed Gnarls Barkely, letting their creative juices run wild, showing that it is possible to go against the grain and still see success.

     The success spoken of, is that of the album’s ridiculously catchy lead single, “Crazy”, which is already proving to be this year’s answer to 2005′s “Feel Good Inc” by Gorillaz, in a sort of a moody, depressing sort of way, if that makes any sense. Danger Mouse’s production lets Cee-Lo really “explore the studio space”, so to speak, experimenting with several different styles and sounds. The album is jumped off with “Go Go Gadget Gospel”, which finds Cee-Lo reaching into his obvious gospel roots; but is juxtaposed later with a complete curveball; a well done cover of the Violent Femmes “Gone Daddy Gone”. 

     While Cee-Lo’s rap vocals have taken a back seat to his vocal chops, many of the album’s best moments come from his straightforward sung lyrics, like on the lead single, “Crazy”. Songs like the swingy “Smiley Faces”, the soothing and soulful  “Who Cares”, and the dirty drummed “Just A Thought” will have you forgetting that Cee-Lo was ever a rapper in the first place, (but some of you didn’t know that anyway).  

     Danger’s tracks bring out the best in Cee-Lo, letting his styles run wild. “Transformer” finds the duo at their most daring, where DM’s schizophrenic beat only challenges Cee-Lo to take his lyrical style to a higher level, hitting listeners with a barrage of styles and vocal effects – beautiful chemistry here. Only in St. Elsewhere, could you find Cee-Lo singing about creepy things like “The Boogie Monster”, or even darker, the lyrically-brilliant-yet-equally-disturbing “Necromancer”. But on a LaFace album? Forget about it. 

     Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo have done it again, for the first time, together. The two bring out the best in one another, perhaps rising to the pinnacle of their respective careers up unto this point. Gnarls Barkely’s remarkably consistent St. Elsewhere might not strike your fancy at first, but consecutive listens will have you singing right along. What they say is true - Gnarls Barkley is crazy.