Lonely Man/Gorillaz Routine

Lonely Man (Kid Koala Mix)
Lonely Man (Kid Koala Live Studio Session)
Lonely Man (Kid Koala Live, 2017)

"Lonely Man" (better known as "Kid Koala Routine", "Gorillaz Routine", "Routine" or just plain "Untitled") was a piece Dan The Automator recorded for one of his solo albums with Kid Koala & Damon Albarn under the guise of Gorillaz. Not much is known about this track as the original version has never been released. Apparently it would have featured both Gorillaz and rapper Mos Def on it. My guess would be Damon's lines as 2D would have been the song's hook and Mos Def would have rapped verses on to the track. Kid Koala must have liked the track a lot, as he used it in some of his DJ sets and released a remix of it, making it the only version of the song the public has access to. His mix must be different from what the finished track is as Mos Def is not present on it.

The instrumental is a classic Dan The Automator beat; the melody is played on synthesizers, it's very sample heavy and it is anchored by a drum machine breakbeat. My guess would be that Damon overdubbed some instrumentation as well (probably the string synths, the organ in the background and I can make out certain parts that sound like guitars), but I can't tell you for sure as very little is known about this track. Junior Dan and Jason Cox might be on the track as well (it sounds like live drums & bass are on the track) which might be part of the reason it was originally credited to Gorillaz and not Damon Albarn. Kid Koala's mix probably adds more samples and turntable scratches than were on it originally. Another logical guess would be that his mix only loops one section, which would explain the lack of Mos Def and the heavy use of scratches and samples to occupy space.

Damon sings one line for his repeated hook: "Packin' up, you don't believe me. Packin' up, believe me it's easy. All my day, washed away. Oh, now I'm a lonely man. Movin' on..." The song seems to be about moving on ("no shit" screamed the peanut gallery from a distance) and never turning back. "Don't Look Back In Anger" as Damon's former rivals once put it. It could be about a break up (maybe another one of Damon's Justine Frischmann songs?), if you stripped the instrumental down to just the organic instrumentation, the melody bears a resemblance to Blur's original last bow, "No Distance Left To Run". Damon's vocals are heartfelt, it might be one of his greatest 2D performances, and the orchestrated feel of the beat help conveys the power that this song contains. God, I hope they will eventually release the original version of this track.

How did a track like this not make it on to one of Dan The Automator's albums? The snippet we get from Kid Koala's mix is so beautiful and astounding. It's a perfect end to the partnership of Damon Albarn, Dan The Automator and Kid Koala. This is what fans have been asking since it's sudden bootleg online and the trio have hard our prayers. At a 2017 show Kid Koala did, he debuted his remix on the public stage announcing that the finished track will show up on Dan The Automator's next studio album.

To be continued...