The Mountain it was deeply inspired by their travels to India.

Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn explained that the idea for the album came after a series of personal losses:

• Jamie’s mother-in-law suffered a stroke in India.

• Shortly after, both Damon’s and Jamie’s fathers passed away within ten days of each other.

• These experiences shaped the album’s theme — a positive and spiritual approach to death.

Damon took his father’s ashes to the Ganges River in Varanasi, an experience that gave the album its spiritual tone.

The music aims to make people feel less afraid of death and see it as a natural part of life.

They collaborated with several artists, including Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Ravi Shankar, and praised her musical heritage.

Although the album deals with heavy themes, it’s described as a joyful and uplifting record, not a sad or morbid one.

Damon reflected on British culture’s emotional repression, suggesting that other parts of the UK (like Wales, Ireland, and Scotland) express emotion more freely.

The album will be accompanied by a hand-drawn film and an art book.

Listeners are encouraged to experience it as one complete narrative, rather than skipping between songs.

They discussed their long creative partnership, emphasizing that the key to a good Gorillaz record is spending time together, traveling, and experiencing other cultures for inspiration.

Looking back on 25 years of Gorillaz, they mentioned collaborations with De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Dennis Hopper, and Dionne Warwick, among others — calling them legendary and personally meaningful.

Gorillaz announced a major UK tour for 2026, including a huge concert at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June.

They expressed excitement and gratitude for still being able to perform and evolve after 25 years.

Elsewhere, the duo revealed that Dionne Warwick was so close to  recording with the band twice, but didn't like the band's devilish title  for their Demon Days record.

Hewlett recalled: "She was in the studio on the piano with Damon, saying 'I'm not sure about the name of this album Demon Days. Why have you called it Demon Days?'"

"I think she just found some of the lyrics and some of the ideas a bit problematic, but an amazing person nonetheless".