The interview was part of the premiere of their new Double A single, “The Hardest Thing / Orange County.”

New album and concept: Orange County is directly connected to The Mountain. The track “Orange County” is described as a parallel version of “The Hardest Thing”, as if it exists in an alternate universe.

India as a creative core: Time spent in India played a crucial role in defining the album. The culture, the experience of loss, and being immersed in a different way of understanding life and death helped guide the project’s meaning.

The mountain as a metaphor: The Mountain represents the journey of life — starting at the base with many paths and possibilities, gradually narrowing as you climb, and ultimately reaching the summit, where ideas of death, reincarnation, and what lies beyond come into focus.

World-building approach: Like Plastic Beach, the album exists within a defined “place.” Even if it’s more metaphysical than physical, having a destination helps shape the narrative and emotional structure of the project.

Unique collaborations: The album features the presence of voices from artists such as Bobby Womack, Dennis Hopper, and Mark E. Smith, reviving an idea from Gorillaz’ original manifesto written 25 years ago — the concept of summoning the voices of musicians beyond time.

Visualizer and short film: Rather than a standard music video, the project includes a hand-drawn animated short film, created without computers, inspired by early animation studios where everything was painted and filmed manually.

Unified release experience: The album, the animated film, and an accompanying art book are released together, encouraging listeners to fully immerse themselves in The Mountain — listening from start to finish while exploring the visuals.

Kong Studios and interactivity: A new racing game is set to launch on the Kong Studios website, bringing back the spirit of classic Gorillaz web games for longtime fans.

The future of Kong: The Kong project has evolved into its “second phase,” with more artists involved, though no names have been revealed yet.