Pitch-perfect Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley

“The Odd Couple”

(Downtown/Atlantic)

****

Singer Cee-Lo Green and musician-producer Danger Mouse do make an odd couple as modern soul duo Gnarls Barkley: one short, one tall; one round, one rangy; one closely shorn, one bushy-haired. But the title of this follow-up to “St. Elsewhere,” their hit 2006 debut, may also refer to how life is usually at once absurd and horrible, light and dark, sacred and profane.

With their signature blend of exuberance and spaciness, these 13 tracks ruminate on such weighty but elementally human states as feeling outcast, finding a place to belong, wanting what others have and hoping for something better.

Although “St. Elsewhere” and its ubiquitous hit “Crazy” were hardly a laff-a-minute, “Odd Couple” feels more serious and emotionally intense than its cartoonish predecessor, with such numbers as the propulsive lament “Charity Case” and the plaintive, gospel-flavored “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” striking truly poignant notes. Even the lighthearted “Blind Mary” has a vulnerable tinge, as Green croons about how the title character “has no idea I’m ugly, so I have absolutely nothing to hide -- because I’m so much prettier inside.”

“Odd Couple” -- rush-released three weeks early on Tuesday after being leaked on the Internet -- is every bit as musically inventive as “Elsewhere.” Green matches Danger Mouse’s walls of percussion, stuttering electro-tribal beats, delicate bits of guitar, soaring strings and exuberant ‘60s dance music with vocals even more adept and soulful than last time.

First single “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)” is one of many tracks that manage to be at once playful and ominous: Green’s falsetto warning pushes you away while Danger Mouse’s groovy organ and shimmering percussion pull you onto the dance floor to do the hippy hippy shake.

The garage-band send-up “Whatever” reflects the eternal rebellion and self-exile of rock, but imbues it with a desperation that’s both funny and scary.

The ‘60s-pop-flavored “Surprise” wraps philosophy in danceability, while the choral/tribal “Open Book” drills into the depths of one tortured soul that could be any tortured soul. Indeed, the album is framed by the sound of a movie projector starting up and spooling out, hinting that the songs are telling someone’s story, and by the end you’re thinking maybe it’s everyone’s story.

“I am an open book,” Green testifies. Well, not always. But the album -- like life itself -- is a dark and beautiful mystery.

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Albums are rated on a scale of four stars (excellent) to one star (poor). Albums reviewed have been released except as indicated.