St Elsewhere

Having recorded with enigmatic rapper MF DOOM, not to mention a cast of voices from "Adult Swim", Danger Mouse is no stranger to outsized characters. He admits that he helped out with St. Elsewhere, the first album credited to Gnarls Barkley. "A lot of people ask me about him," says Danger Mouse when the topic arises. "He found one of my Pelican City records, which was this downtempo experimental stuff I did in college, and I started getting letters from him. He's not (Blur frontman and Gorillaz co-creator) Damon Albarn – I can blow that myth out of the water for you. A lot of people think he lives in South Carolina. Personally, I think you'd be more likely to find him in Europe."

Cee-Lo Green, aka Thomas Calloway, is a Dungeon Family alumnus, once-and-future member of Goodie Mob and a wildly eclectic solo artist. His music is steeped in the gospel and blues traditions of the Southeast, merging timeless soul with experimental funk and hip hop. He confirms reports that his dramatic voice and soul-rummaging lyrics appear on portions of St. Elsewhere. "Yes, I believe that I sang on at least some of the Gnarls Barkley record," he says. "But we are not the same person. I am Cee-Lo. I am a humble trumpet, and the wind of God blows through me. You might consider Gnarls the spit valve on the trumpet, were you inclined to consider him at all." As he walked away, Cee-Lo could be heard to mutter, "You want to know who he is? He’s the dude who owes me thirty-five dollars, that’s who he is."

Does 'St. Elsewhere' shed light on this mysterious personage, or does it further obscure him? It's a complex record, to be sure. It employs the full spectra of pop music and human emotion. The warm, breezy single 'Crazy' and the spry finger-snapper 'Smiley Faces' recall 'Songs In The Key Of Life' and 'Good Vibrations' in equal measure. 'On Line', a lament for the lonely and ambitious, could be a tricked-out G-funk holdover. Often dark and unpredictable, 'St. Elsewhere' nevertheless retains its sense of joy throughout. Even Cee-Lo's darker moments, his introspection on 'Necromancer', and the chilling 'Just A Thought', on which our hero fights off suicidal ideation, flourish in their lush, funky surroundings. It constantly shifts its shape and never sacrifices momentum. And it contains a mess of contradictory clues about just who Gnarls Barkley actually is.

Perhaps Gnarls Barkley will never fully reveal himself. But if 'St. Elsewhere' is any indication, his music bears Marvin Gaye's depth of feeling, Jeff Buckley's emotive theatrics, and wild courage not seen since Prince's prime. Behold the most exciting debut of 2006. A psychedelic soul masterpiece. Gnarls Barkley may not be easily located, but he won't be a stranger.

"You are the best. You are the worst. You are average. Your love is a part of you. You try to give it away because you cannot bear its radiance, but you cannot separate it from yourself. To understand your fellow humans, you must understand why you give them your love. You must realize that hate is but a crime-ridden subdivision of love. You must reclaim what you never lost. You must take leave of your sanity, and yet be fully responsible for your actions." -Gnarls Barkley, in a letter to the legendary rock critic Lester Bangs.