Two galactic musical genius' thrown together and a palate of contemporary music to play with. With a little alchemy, the Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo collaboration Gnarls Barkley takes this and serves up a sparkling musical manna that is ‘St. Elsewhere.’ From the opening moments of “Go-Go Gadget Gospel,” where Cee- Lo soulfully croons over a wildly random sci-fi Danger Mouse beat, the marker is slammed down challenging both listener and peer to take it all in and find the join.

The band has already made history as the first act to have a chart topper, “Crazy,” purely from download sales and the evidence of this it will not stop there. Ranging from the sublimely emotional and touching “Just a Thought” to the new wave-ish Violent Femmes cover “Gone Daddy Gone,” these two eccentric talents have delivered a diverse product in 37 minutes and 14 tracks bringing a quality that defies categorisation

It is almost impossible and unfair to pick stand out tracks but “Smiling Faces” is a modern Motown soulful powerhouse of a track. Equally worthy of mention are “Storm Coming,” apparently the creative starting point of this collection, and “Transformer,” an excellent beats and rhymes excursion. What is apparent after listening to this release is the collaborators’ ability to absolutely find each other’s strengths and to have the faith in one another’s talent to take it toward the left field without losing the intrinsic soul that pervades each and every track.

‘St. Elsewhere’ is an amazingly accomplished genre-trashing debut of immense bravery and complexity. Something that will challenge most listeners, but will be referred back to by many when measuring talent and pioneering spirit in popular music. I already look forward to the 'difficult' second album.