"Pop", at times, can be an amorphous, all-encompassing genre. If one were to quickly sort their digital music library on “pop”, one could find artistic giants such as Prince, David Bowie and U2 sitting next to the likes of Kevin Federline or Fergie. Gnarls Barkley fall in the first pop category in the sense that they make music that has universal sensibilities without the pedestrian qualities of an Ashlee Simpson record. Their debut, St. Elsewhere with its omnipresent single “Crazy” was the definition of a pop phenomenon. The duo’s newest LP, The Odd Couple, seeks to push the group’s musical and artistic limits by creating a relatively dense and dark style of pop music that has not been heard in years.

With lyrics such as “And I don’t understand how I’m so understanding” and “I got some bad news this morning/which in turn made my day” much of the mania and schizophrenia that characterized Gnarls Barkley’s groundbreaking debut, St. Elsewhere, returns on The Odd Couple. However, this time around Dangermouse’s dense and dark electro-pop soundscapes shroud these dualities with a sense of claustrophobia and paranoia that differs from the group’s freewheeling, light-hearted, and sunny debut.

To be clear and upfront, Odd Couple is not an album you spin for company while pre-gaming for a party or the club on a Friday night. Despite its 40-minute runtime and the fact that no track exceeds the 3:30 mark, The Odd Couple is a brooding slow-burn of a listen that, musically, is a distinct about-face from St. Elsewhere. Don’t let the Justin Timberlake-starring, ode to “Dance MTV” video for lead single “Run” fool you. This album is as sonically macabre as an M. Night Shyamalan flick—but therein lies its charm and brilliance.

Whereas the Odd Couple doesn’t have the radio-friendly and feelgood hits of St. Else, its fearless and courageous musical ambition make it a downright important listen. The cathartic “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” and the apocalyptic “Going On” are the closest the album comes to the epic value of “Crazy”. Musically, both songs trump the 2006 anthem as the gospeldelic drawl of the former and the apocalyptic production of the latter are as compelling (if not moreso) than what many considered the 2006 song of the year. The Odd Couple takes no prisoners in its approach and is not for the casual pop music consumer.

“Open Book”, for example, has the same polyrhythmic and frantic sensibilities of “Transformer” but there is an urgency and gravity to it, and other songs, that was absent on St. Elsewhere. The production is more dense and ambitious on this new LP. And while “Whatever” can, on the surface, seem like caricature, it fits snugly into the post-modern “Zone 3 grit-meets-Beatles Merseybeat” lane that Gnarls has carved out for itself in pop music. By borrowing from and flipping everything in pop music from David Bowie’s Scary Monster’s to his own self-made brand of Dirty South gospel, Cee Lo and Dangermouse have managed to redefine pop music . By placing Gnarls in the pop music idiom, the genre no longer carries a trite and insignificant connotation. Gnarls is not Christina Aguilera pop. Rather they more closely resemble the ambition and freedom of Prince’s vanity label work of the eighties.

“Neighbors” and “Blind Mary” bring the album closer to near-classic status with their melodic hooks, layered production and varied instrumentation. Both are home runs that probably won’t find their way to the top of the dance charts—but, again, that’s not the brand of pop here. The title, Odd Couple, is more than a reference to Cee-Lo’s rotundity paired with Dangermouse’s lanky likeness. It is moreso an acknowledgement of the duo’s complimentary musical talents that, when joined together, are quickly becoming the sound of a new generation of pop music.