Liverpool Reviews

Reviews of last night’s concert in Liverpool at M&S BANK ARENA have just been published:

"Gorillaz in Liverpool was eclectic and mystical  - but there was one thing missing. (…). The absence of 2005 classic DARE left a hole in my heart, and would've rounded off the gig completely." by Liverpoolecho | Read the review

"As someone who came of age musically during Britpop I still find it hard to get my head around the fact that Gorillaz are now a bigger worldwide proposition than Damon Albarn's 'other' band, Blur." byWirral Globe | Read the review

Nottingham Reviews

Reviews of last night’s concert in Nottingham at MOTORPOINT ARENA have just been published:

"The night in Nottingham becomes a dazzling journey that leaves the audience spellbound and eager not to miss a moment of this captivating sonic circus." said Gigslutz by Matt Mead. | Read the review clicking here.

Gorillaz Interview by Zane Lowe

It has just been announced that the legendary Zane Lowe has conducted an interview for Apple Music with Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett at House of Kong in Los Angeles, California. You’ll be able to watch it on YouTube and on Apple Music.

You can watch a preview of the video by clicking here.

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Leeds Show Review

Reviews of last night’s concert in Leeds at First Direct Arenahave just been published:

"Damon Albarn responded to criticism from some fans at a Gorillaz concert, stating that you can’t please everyone and defending the band’s creative freedom and approach to their live performances." by Yorkshire Live | see the review

Glasgow Reviews

Reviews of last night’s concert in Glasgow at OVO HYDRO have just been published:

"A Gorillaz delivered an eclectic, emotional live show in Glasgow, blending tributes to late collaborators with vibrant performances and guest appearances, creating a bittersweet yet energising celebration of their music and legacy." by The Scotsman -  clicking here to see the review

"Gorillaz delivered a powerful and emotionally rich two-hour show in Glasgow, blending classics with their new album The Mountain and featuring standout guest appearances that showcased their continued innovation as a live act." by Glasgow World -clicking here to see the review

"Gorillaz delivered an immersive, nearly two-hour spectacle in Glasgow, blending stunning visuals, classic hits, and tracks from The Mountain alongside standout guest performances, leaving the crowd energised and in awe." by Scottish Music Network -clicking here to see the review

The Mountain Exhibition

The Mountain artwork is now on display in the Gallery at Kong Studios.

Visit the Gallery now to experience the new album artwork, presented digitally in high resolution. Available only at Kong Studios.

Accessible via the ground floor corridor, the Gallery can be found through the door beside the confessional booth in the lobby.

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Birmingham Reviews

Reviews of last night’s concert in Birmingham at BP PULSE Live have just been published:

"The Gorillaz concert in Birmingham was a vibrant and heartfelt spectacle that bridged generations, blending classic hits with their India-inspired new album, showcasing the enduring creativity of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett." by birminghammail | clicking here to see the review

Manchester Day 2 Reviews

Reviews of last night’s concert in Manchester at Co-op Live have just been published:

"The Mountain tour is a staggering experience, Albarn retreading the emotionally volatile path he threaded through the band’s most recent album is a beautiful experience." by Cult Following | clicking here to see the review

‘A visually spectacular, career-spanning spectacle" by National World  | clicking here to see the review

"At the Co-op Live Arena, Gorillaz delivered a powerful and emotive performance that balanced the introspection of The Mountain with the energy of their classics, creating a deeply human and memorable experience." by Music Talkers | clicking here to see the review

Manchester Day 1 Reviews

Reviews of last night’s concert in Manchester at Co-op Live have just been published:

“It was an incredibly powerful opening… the entire band were clearly having the time of their lives.” by RGM | clicking here to see the review

"You may not like everything they do but you have to admire and appreciate the fact they do it and do it so well." by The Oldham Times  | clicking here to see the review

"Based on the queue lined up outside the Co-op Live, you would struggle to guess the band playing here tonight. There are young kids with their mums and dads; gaggles of teenagers; twenty-somethings; middle-aged bachelorettes; and pensioners." by Manchester Evening News | clicking here to see the review

"The Blur frontman’s ‘cartoon band’ kicked off their astonishing arena tour with music for the tear ducts as well as the feet" by The Telegraph | clicking here to see the review

Gor­illaz’s new album is a ‘genu­ine adven­ture’ by The Day

The Moun­tain’ wants the listener to ‘feel optim­istic’ about death.

t’s a Wed­nes­day after­noon in West Hol­ly­wood, one day after the city was blanketed in a light coat­ing of rain. The mid­day sun has only just begun to peek through the over-cast sky.

Its beams are slightly more vivid through the large win­dows of the Edi­tion, which sit at the edge of a secluded area of the hotel. Jamie Hew­lett sits at a wooden table stir­ring a cap­puccino with a black straw.

“I mean, who drinks out of a straw when you get past the age of 10, right?" he says, jok­ingly. After 25 years of boun­cing around the globe with Gor­illaz, he’s still long­ing for a jet lag cure. Cof­fee can only do so much.

Lean­ing back in his chair, in a suave, all-beige out­fit, he starts to grin while recount­ing his day in Los Angeles.

“We’ve been walk­ing around the streets hav­ing a very rare morn­ing off together. We bought some weed, which is always one of the most won­der­ful things about this state," he recalls.

He also finds humor in L.A.'s obses­sion with driver-less food deliv­ery.

“Every time we saw a post-bot driv­ing down the road, we stopped and doffed our caps. ... In the future, when robots take over and des­troy us all, they’ll remem­ber me for being nice to the post­bot!"

It’s been a long few weeks for Hew­lett and band­mate Damon Albarn as they roll out the group’s latest endeavor, “The Moun­tain," r eleased Fri­day. Just one day prior, “House of Kong” opened at

Rolling Greens in down­town L.A. The exhib­i­tion, ini­tially inten­ded as a Gor­illaz 25th anniversary event, has landed on the West Coast.

“I think with this album, we were both quite happy with what we’ve done … and feel­ing like it was an hon­est, genu­ine adven­ture that was taken, and what we’ve given is something that we’re proud of," Hew­lett says.

He and Albarn are also artists at heart and in nature. It’s why Gor­illaz con­tin­ues to look and sound the way it does, and why the group is con­sist­ently push­ing the agenda of how a nonex­ist­ent band can still res­on­ate with a group of fans who are very much alive.

“The pro­cess, the research, the put­ting it together, the mak­ing of it is really fun, and the deliv­ery of it is kind of like a mini death syn­drome," he says. “What you’re required to do is get straight on to the next thing, and you won’t have any time to waste think­ing about the fact that the com­ple­tion of that left you feel­ing numb, because then you’re excited about the next project."

He adds that Albarn, sim­il­arly, is like a “kid in a sweet shop” when he’s mak­ing music: “The moment it’s fin­ished, there’s no interest in dis­cuss­ing it."

Even so, the album is undeni­ably their most intim­ate in recent his­tory.

Per­haps it’s something to do with the exper­i­ence of grief that the two lived through, los­ing their

fath­ers only 10 days apart and just before a trip to India. Or maybe it’s a test­a­ment to the pro­cess behind “The Moun­tain," which saw Hew­lett and Albarn travel the coun­try, spend­ing more time together there than dur­ing pre­vi­ous album pro­duc­tions.

“It’s weird, because I’m born 10 days after Damon… the idea presen­ted itself, and at that point we were going down that road, and there was no avoid­ing it… It wasn’t even neces­sar­ily going to be a Gor­illaz project; ‘Let’s go together and see what hap­pens.'”

Hew­lett says the album was also inspired by his late mother-in-law, Amo, who was dia­gnosed with can­cer in 2010 and opted for East­ern medi­cine instead of chemo.

“She said, ‘No, I’m going to India.' … She was into Ayurveda medi­cine and knew this doc­tor, and she spent three months in India (being treated). When she came back, her can­cer had gone. In France, they call her in for a checkup, and they give her a scan. They say, ‘Where’s your can­cer gone?' She said, ‘I’ve been in India,' and they say, ‘We don’t believe in that.'”

Interview by By JULIUS MILLER

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The Mountain Tour

The Mountain Tour kicks off tomorrow, bringing with it a collection of exclusive merch that will only be available at the gigs. In addition, the band will be unveiling a brand-new stage design, inspired by the aesthetic of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?, promising a visually immersive experience for fans.

Here’s what you can expect to find:

• Hoodie – £65

• T-Shirt – £35

• Special T-Shirt for Members – £35

• Jigsaw – $25

• Poster – £15

• Bag Charms – £10

• Snake Tattoo – £5

• Badges – £8

• Mirror Mountain Badge – £8

• Guitar Pick Set – £10

• Patches – £15

Prices may vary depending on the location.

If you’re planning to attend any of the shows, this will be your chance to grab unique tour items, as they won’t be available outside of the events.

Tour Dates:

20.03.26  -  CO-OP Live, Manchester, UK * extra date

21.03.26  -  CO-OP Live, Manchester, UK

22.03.26  -  BP PULSE Live, Birmingham, UK

24.03.26  -  OVO HYDRO, Glasgow, UK

25.03.26  -  FIRST DIRECT BANK ARENA, Leeds, UK

27.03.26  -  UTILITA ARENA CARDIFF. Cardiff, UK

28.03.26  -  MOTORPOINT ARENA, Nottingham, UK

29.03.26  -  M&S BANK ARENA, Liverpool, UK

31.03.26  -  THE SSE ARENA, Belfast, UK

01.04.26  -  3ARENA, Dublin, Ireland

02.04.26 -  3ARENA, Dublin, Ireland * extra date

Gorillaz Goes to Switzerland!

Hey friends in Switzerland! Gorillaz will be performing on July 23 at the Paléo Festival Nyon.

Official ticket sales open on March 25, 2026 at 12:00 PM. You can get your tickets by clicking here.

You can also check out more tour dates in our gigography section by clicking here.

Choose Love art auction

Choose Love has announced its auction to raise funds for humanitarian aid in Palestine. The auction, which runs from 26 March to 9 April 2026, will see the work of contemporary artists go on public exhibition before being sold to the highest bidder.

The artists include Sarah Ball, Jake Chapman, Es Devlin, Jeremy Deller, Brian Eno, Nan Goldin, Misan Harriman, Charlie Mackesy, Malak Mattar, and Grayson Perry, among others.

The exhibition and auction follow the Together For Palestine concert (17 September 2025) at Ovo Arena, London, which raised over £2m for humanitarian organisations. For the auction, Choose Love has partnered with Gideon Berger Studio, London art space Hope 93 (where the public exhibition will be displayed) and British Palestinian art dealer Zayna Al-Saleh.

The auction will include Es Devlin’s Redraw The Edges of Yourself; Grayson Perry’s ceramics work Lady with Fireworks; Jeremy Deller’s new work with Ed Hall, The Constant Buzz of a Drone; two works by Khaled Hourani, Watermelon Flag and Kendaka; and Nablus by Nabil Anani.

Since 2015, Choose Love has worked across 50 countries to support people in times of crisis, providing daily essentials and trying to ensure that displaced families and individuals have what they need to rebuild their lives. The funds of this initiative will go towards food and water, healthcare, shelter, mental health support and Taawon, the largest orphan care programme in Gaza.

‘In these turbulent and frightening times, it’s more important than ever that we put humanity first, and make sure families and children have what they need to survive,’ says Josie Fernandez-Marelli, CEO of Choose Love. ‘There is still an urgent need to support vital organisations providing humanitarian aid on the ground in Gaza. We are proud to stand with Together For Palestine, and deeply grateful to every artist for their contributions, supporting our partners to save as many lives as possible.’

The Choose Love auction will be open for bids from 26 March – 9 April and an exhibition of the works included will be open to the public at Hope 93 in London over the same period.

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Gorillaz’s Togetherness Agenda Interview by New York Times

“We need young artists to engage with other things than fame and image and likes,” Damon Albarn said. The band’s latest album proves the point.

One late-1990s night in their shared London flat, the musician Damon Albarn and the illustrator Jamie Hewlett wrote a one-page manifesto for a new band. This group, they declared, would exist solely as cartoons, with one member capable of giving voice to beloved singers who had passed away.

By the time that group, Gorillaz, arrived a few years later, many of its creators’ ideas had been realized. Hewlett generated a quartet of animated avatars — the vocalist 2-D, the guitarist Noodle, the bassist Murdoc Niccals and the drummer Russel Hobbs — with spiky attitudes and sci-fi-meets-skater fashion sense. Albarn devised a century-straddling sound that mixed trip-hop, hip-hop and low-fi indie rock.

But along the way, the concept of having Gorillaz mingle with the afterlife was abandoned.

“At that point, we didn’t know any dead musicians,” Hewlett said on a recent afternoon in Los Angeles, sprawled next to Albarn on a couch in a West Hollywood hotel. “We’ve now had 25 years of working with — and losing — so many people.”

Some of those now-gone artists appear on “The Mountain,” Gorillaz’s ninth studio LP, for which Albarn dug through years of recordings, looking for unused material from former collaborators.

The posthumous lineup includes the rapper Proof, who was killed in a 2006 shooting, and returns here with a haunting tale of gun violence. There are also cameos from the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, De La Soul’s David Jolicoeur and the actor Dennis Hopper, who appears on the opening track, chanting the title of “The Mountain” like a mantra.

Albarn was able to get approval for all the artists — “Our intentions were honorable,” he said — with the exception of Lou Reed. The Velvet Underground leader does appear in spirit, however: On one track, an electronically treated voice recites phrases from a conversation Reed once had with Albarn.

In all, more than two dozen performers, living and dead, appear on “The Mountain,” which was inspired by Albarn and Hewlett’s visits to India and informed by the deaths of their fathers. It’s an album steeped in the awareness and acceptance of loss, as evidenced on songs like “The Hardest Thing”: “And when the curtains rise and the party begins,” Albarn sings, “Do you laugh / do you break down inside / wondering how you got to the afterlife?”

“Death wasn’t a subject we chose to go to — it was just there,” Albarn said. “It’s unavoidable, once you get to your 50s. The longer you live, the longer the dread builds up.”

He and Hewlett, both 57, were wearing camouflage button-ups, which Albarn accentuated with a Super Mario T-shirt and a red-and-white That’s a Awful Lot of Cough Syrup ball cap.

The two friends first met in the early 1990s, when Albarn was best known as the lead singer of the bratty Brit-rock combo Blur, and Hewlett was illustrating the cult-adored comic book “Tank Girl.” Gorillaz grew out of their frustrations with the overly manufactured pop acts of the late 1990s, and neither expected it to become a long-term endeavor.

“It was meant to be a really cool idea,” Albarn noted. “Not a career.”

In 2001, the band’s debut single — the looping, gently chilled-out “Clint Eastwood” — became a worldwide hit, bolstered by Hewlett’s vibrant music video, a cameo from Del the Funky Homosapien and a confident refrain: “The future / it’s comin’ on.” Released at a time when MTV and radio were trying to decide between teen bubble gum, rap-rock and reggae, “Clint Eastwood” was a rare egalitarian crowd-pleaser, making Gorillaz’s debut one of the first must-have CDs of the new millennium.

On Gorillaz’s subsequent releases — including “Demon Days” (2005), “Plastic Beach” (2010) and “Humanz” (2017) — Albarn expanded his reach into electro-soul, psychedelica and hip-hop, sometimes shuttling around the globe for recording sessions. Hewlett steered the visuals for the band’s increasingly complex stage performances, including the 2007 side project “Monkey: Journey to the West.”

For each project, Gorillaz roped in a series of far-flung contributors, turning their former side project into a revolving-door global-pop collective. At a recent Gorillaz installation-slash-exhibition in Los Angeles, a giant “Sgt. Pepper”-style collage featured photos of many of Gorillaz’s guest stars, including Grace Jones, Stevie Nicks and the Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen.

“Gorillaz made me realize that, if you have the ability to connect with people and new ideas, that’s a gift,” Joe Talbot of the British post-punks Idles, who appears on “The Mountain,” said in an interview. “If you can learn other cultures, other sounds, other ways of writing music, other ways of grieving — you should do it.”

For “The Mountain,” Gorillaz recruited several crucial names from the world of Indian music, including the singer Asha Puthli and the sitar player Anoushka Shankar. Albarn and Hewlett have visited the country twice, including a trip after they lost their fathers less than two weeks apart.

As they went from city to city, Albarn and Hewlett met with artists and musicians, and attempted to deepen their understanding of grief. “Death is just not gothic in India,” Albarn noted. “And one thing I took away is the necessity to empty the mind when practicing anything. A cluttered mind doesn’t have room to put anything else in it.”

Albarn’s father, Keith, was a respected artist and architect — as well as a longtime lover of Indian music — and the singer distributed some of his remains in the Ganges. (“There’d been no requests from him,” the singer said. “I just thought he’d like that.”)

Hewlett’s connection to his father was more complicated. “I didn’t have a good relationship with him,” he said. “He always told me I wouldn’t achieve anything. But I feel like, with this album, I wanted to give him a tribute, even if he probably didn’t deserve it.” He laughed, before adding: “It made me feel better about myself.”

Work on “The Mountain” continued after the duo returned to Europe. Hewlett spent a year and a half on an animated video that paid homage to the 1960s Walt Disney films, including “The Jungle Book” (1967). Albarn entered his studio in London, where he began jamming with musicians.

For Shankar, there was some initial trepidation about the idea of white British artists incorporating so many aspects of Indian culture. “One of the things that gave me confidence is the way Gorillaz have done similar things in the past,” she said in a video interview. “They go into depth on their cultural collaborations. It’s not like they’re making an album saying, ‘Let us tell you about Indian history.’ They’re sharing music about their experience in India and what it did for them.”

She ended up performing on a half-dozen tracks on “The Mountain,” including “The Sweet Prince,” joined by the Indian flutist Ajay Prasanna and the famed alt-rock guitarist Johnny Marr. “The sitar can be really tricky to fit into a pop sound, because its register sits very close to a human voice, and takes up a lot of attention,” Shankar said. “I told Damon it could be used texturally in a lot of different ways. So we wound up using a sweet, lovely strumming technique on the song, which feels very lullaby-esque.”

“The Mountain” is Gorillaz’s first album on its own label, Kong Records. It’s a move that carries no shortage of risk: ”Everything we’ve done for this album, we’re covering it,” Hewlett noted. But in the decades since the two men drew up that initial manifesto for Gorillaz, streaming has granted listeners access to music from around the world — making it an ideal moment for a band, and an album, uninterested in staying in one place.

“I’ve been there for multiculturalism for a very long time, so I’m delighted that’s more of it,” Albarn said. “And we need young artists to engage with other things than fame and image and likes. People playing instruments together, physically, in any form — can we not forget that?”

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More NUMBER 1

The latest Billboard charts have just been released, and The Mountain has scored three No. 1 positions:

• Top Alternative Albums - See the charts here.

• Top Rock Albums - See the charts here.

• Top Rock & Alternative Albums - See the charts here.

Congratulations! 🎉

Contact Section

Friends, we’ve just created the Contact section. This is a very special place for us. The form is only meant to help us complete missing information about the gigography and/or other types of information.

To be clear: this form is only for submitting missing information or correcting inaccurate data. We do not have any direct contact or any kind of relationship with Gorillaz, their sponsors, or their manager.

Clicking here.

Gamify ‘The Mountain’ with 4 Murals Blending Digital and Real

The  immersive campaign features bespoke OOH art from Jamie Hewlett across  London and a personalised on-platform character-match experience for  global fans.

The world’s most famous virtual band is back, and they’ve brought  some heavy-hitting digital firepower with them. Spotify has announced a  landmark creative collaboration with Gorillaz and legendary artist Jamie  Hewlett to promote the band’s latest album, ‘The Mountain’, dropping on  February 27th 2026.

Recognising that today's music fans crave  more than just listening, the multifaceted campaign blends digital  discovery with tangible, real-world participation. To bring ‘The  Mountain’ into the physical world, the team is installing four murals  across London in Peckham, Shoreditch, Hackney, and Portobello Road. Each  site features bespoke artwork designed by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie,  transforming the out-of-home (OOH) placements into interactive hubs.

Every mural features a QR code that invites fans on a real-world  treasure hunt. By visiting all four locations, fans can enter a  competition to win money-can't-buy prizes, including tickets, merch, and  signed memorabilia. The OOH activation will be teased through  mysterious CCTV feeds and game-like point-of-view videos to generate  buzz and encourage physical engagement.

Alongside the murals,  Spotify has co-designed a unique character match experience with the  Gorillaz team. Leveraging user listening history, the platform matches  fans with one of the band's four iconic characters: 2D, Noodle, Russel,  or Murdoc. This feature will reach millions of top fans across key  markets including the UK, USA, Canada, AUNZ, Mexico, and Brazil.

Safiya Lambie-Knight, head of music partnerships, Northern Europe at Spotify, explains the strategy. "This collaboration with Gorillaz isn't just about launching an album, it's us continuing to innovate and reward fans for their engagement," says Safiya. "We're excited to offer Gorillaz fans an immersive journey that spans their digital listening experience on Spotify to real-world interactions with Jamie Hewlett's incredible art.”

Speaking exclusively to LBB, Tara Samaha, artist and label partnerships at Spotify, elaborated on the creative decision to take the virtual band into the physical streets. "We're always looking to reward fans in new and interesting ways. As Gorillaz are undoubtedly the world's most known animated band, it felt fun to create these IRL moments for people to come along and experience," she says. "Jamie Hewlett's art and the band characters are so distinctive and iconic that we felt that an OOH activation would prove to be a really fun canvas to play with."

Tara adds that the digital component is just as tailored: "Each listener invited to join the experience will be matched with one of the four band characters, and receive a personalised ‘Mountain Mix’ playlist comprising 50 songs total – from a variety of artists – including the entirety of the new Gorillaz album. They will also receive share cards of their assigned band member, so they can share their ‘Mountain Mix’ playlist for others to enjoy."

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A mural quest across London by Spotify UK

Gorillaz is also taking over London with  an IRL treasure hunt that brings their visual universe off screen and  into the streets. Four large-scale, hand-painted murals are popping up  in Peckham, Shoreditch, Hackney, and Portobello Road, each depicting one  of the band’s iconic characters.

Hidden within each mural is a QR code  unlocking a clue in a city-wide quest. Scan all four and you’ll be  entered to win Gorillaz tickets, merch, and signed memorabilia. This  real-world adventure brings the virtual band to life, creating moments  for Gorillaz fans to discover, explore, and connect along the way.

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Gorillaz x Spotify UK

Gorillaz Invites Fans Into Its World With Exclusive Spotify Experience and London Mural Quest.

Since its inception, Gorillaz has been known for blending art with genre-bending music, inviting fans into an ever-expanding virtual universe. To celebrate the release of the band’s new album, The Mountain, Spotify is amplifying that spirit with a multi-layered, fan-first experience.

“This collaboration with Gorillaz is about continuing to innovate and reward fans for their engagement,” said Tara Samaha, Artist & Label Partnerships at Spotify. “We’re excited to offer Gorillaz fans an immersive journey that spans their digital listening experience on Spotify to real-world interactions with [Gorillaz co-creator] Jamie Hewlett‘s incredible art.”

Match with your Gorillaz alter ego

First up is Gorillaz Character Match, an exclusive on-platform experience for top Gorillaz listeners in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Poland, and Spain. Based on your listening history, the experience matches you with one of the four Gorillaz characters: 2D, Noodle, Russel, or Murdoc. 

Once matched, you’ll unlock a personalized playlist featuring tracks from The Mountain alongside hand-picked favorites from the band’s discography. You’ll also get character share cards designed by Jamie, letting you show off your Gorillaz alter ego across social platforms.

Created in collaboration with Gorillaz’s own creative team, the experience is designed to bring fans closer to the music and characters they love.

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The Mountain Ad by We Are Seen US

New York to LA for the new Gorillaz drop.

Album out now - and we’ve got it covered coast to coast.

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The Mountain Ad by BuildHollywood UK

Gorillaz: The Mountain 

To mark the arrival of their hugely anticipated new album The Mountain, Gorillaz took over the streets with a poster campaign. DIABOLICAL teamed up with The Orchard to roll the work out across a mix of formats – with pastel sky hues and the band’s iconic comic-style characters bringing serious colour to the cities. It’s the ninth studio album from the band, released on their own label Kong Studios. Recorded across India, London and beyond, The Mountain blends Indian classical instrumentation with Gorillaz’ signature electronic and pop influences, with performances spanning multiple languages.

Visually, the campaign stayed true to the band’s unmistakable world. Pulling from the album’s artworks by Jamie Hewlett – created in his Normandy studio and inspired by years of travel – the visuals captured the mood of a record exploring death, grief and the afterlife, alongside collaborators including IDLES, Anoushka Shankar, Bobby Womack and David Jolicoeur.

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THE MOUNTAIN #CHARTS

We share more #1 across the globe.

iTunes charts: Colombia, India, Peru, Slovakia, Mexico, Chile, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Poland.

Apple Music: Ireland, Sweeden, Austria.

Official Charts sale: UK,  Irish

THE MOUNTAIN #1 CHARTS

"Could have gone further… was hoping for a 0, but 1 will do” says Murdoc Niccals

The Mountain is also the biggest independent release of 2026 so far, with 30,000 chart units achieved so far having been the first to come from their new label, KONG. The project also takes home this week’s Official Vinyl Chart Number 1. 

To celebrate the band’s third Number 1 in the 70th anniversary year of the UK Official Albums Chart, illustrator Jamie Hewlett created a special bespoke illustration of Gorillaz character Murdoc Niccals clutching the iconic gold Official Charts Number 1 album award. 

Murdoc Niccals responding to the news, says: “Mortal friends, Murdoc F. Niccals here, speaking to you from on high, the top of the world, the summit of achievement! I’ve only gone and done it again, haven’t I? Number 1! Could have gone further… was hoping for a 0, but 1 will do. To all my devoted er… devotees, you have shown impeccable taste as ever. It takes a lot to make a Mountain, so all I can say is… I couldn't have done it without me. Cheers!” 

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We're Back!

We’re back — and we have plenty of news to share with you:

1. New Album Release

The new album The Mountain was released worldwide on February 28, with critics already calling it “a new decade, a new classic.”

2. Hollywood Palladium Shows

The band performed two special nights at the Hollywood Palladium on February 22 and 23. The shows have now been added to the Gigography section clicking here.

3. Saturday Night Live Appearance

On March 7, Gorillaz appeared on Saturday Night Live, marking their first appearance on the show in their 26-year career. Promo photo 1 - Promo photo 2

4. The Mountain US + Canada Tour

The The Mountain US + Canada Tour has officially been announced, featuring 23 shows across North America. Tickets are available now — click here for more information.

5. South America Tour Announced

The band will also bring The Mountain to South America. The tour will include shows in Paraguay, Chile, Colombia, and for the first time ever, Peru. Tickets are available now — click here to get yours.

6. New Radio Promotions

The band has released “The Moon Cave – Radio Edit” as a promotional single for radio stations across the United States, alongside “The Manifesto – Clean Version.”

7. New Short Film Released

The short film “The Mountain, The Moon Cave and the Sad God – Video Music” premiered on February 27. The project has been widely praised, with critics describing it as “the revival of 2D animation.”

8. New Website Sections Coming Soon

For all our friends and supporters: we’ll soon be opening a Contact section, where fans will be able to help us add verified information to the Discography and Gigography. We will also be launching a brand new section called Videography.

Stay tuned — more updates coming soon.

Folks

Friends, we’re going through some very difficult and deeply personal times right now, so we’ll be sharing the latest updates with you soon.

Best regards.

Gorillaz Expresso

The Mountain Review by Grimsby Telegraph & The Plymouth Herald

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

It is not often that a band explores truly fresh ground on their ninth album, but that is exactly what self-fictional group Gorillaz have managed with The Mountain. Asian and Arabic influences are brought to the fore from the opening title, yet there are enough tracks with the Gorillaz classic sound to keep fans entertained. The album generally moves away from the hip hop style the Damon-led band have embraced on a lot of their more recent work, relying instead on electronic and darker musical styles. One of the record’s highlights sees late Fall frontman Mark E Smith make a posthumous appearance on Delirium. The release is a far stronger outing than at least the last three Gorillaz albums.

★★★★ 

GQ Magazine France

“Pop Is Frightening in the Way It Denies Everything That’s Happening in the World”

“The future is coming on / It’s coming on, it’s coming on…” Two decades later, the stunned memory of discovering Gorillaz remains intact. At the start of the 21st century, when radio stations and music TV channels dictated the direction of pop, four animated characters (2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, and Noodle) stormed the world. Their first EP, released in November 2000, set the tone: Tomorrow Comes Today. The future was already beneath our feet, and Gorillaz would be its unruly prophet.

Driven by unforgettable hits like “Clint Eastwood” and striking videos halfway between Saturday morning cartoons and the apocalyptic visions of Akira, the band flourished—without anyone quite knowing who was pulling the strings. In 2001, their debut album sold seven million copies worldwide. “We wanted to stay anonymous for as long as we could,” the very real Damon Albarn tells us over Zoom. “But playing concerts only from behind a screen… that wasn’t sustainable for human beings like us.”

Once the secret was out, it hardly disrupted the group’s trajectory. Albarn was already widely known as the frontman of Britpop emblem Blur, while illustrator Jamie Hewlett, the band’s other half, had been celebrated in the comics world since the late ’80s as co-creator of Tank Girl. Surrounded by a host of collaborators—from Lou Reed to De La Soul, via Snoop Dogg and Bobby Womack—Gorillaz built a bold, flourishing universe amid an increasingly industrialized pop landscape. The blandness of acts pushed by channels like MTV was one of the reasons Gorillaz existed in the first place. “I don’t think pop has changed in twenty-five years,” Albarn lashes out. “Today, it’s frightening in the way it denies everything happening in the world. It only talks about itself. It’s unhealthy and terrifying.”

“ABBA ripped us off by doing huge hologram concerts. It’s something we couldn’t do today because people would think we were copying them!” — Damon Albarn

In 2026, Gorillaz are no longer the outsiders smashing a glossy music industry, but seasoned veterans preparing to release their ninth album, The Mountain. The record blends Albarn’s catchy refrains and Hewlett’s ultra-colorful artwork with Indian influences. The country was no random choice: the duo spent several months there undergoing experiences that were both tragic and profound. In Jaipur, Hewlett witnessed his mother-in-law’s death from a heart attack. Albarn traveled to Varanasi to scatter the ashes of his late father—only for Hewlett’s father to pass away days later.

Themes of death and reincarnation permeate The Mountain, both in its melancholic tones and its lyrics. “The hardest thing is saying goodbye to someone you love,” Albarn sings on the moving “Orange County,” featuring folk prodigy Kara Jackson and composer Anoushka Shankar, daughter of legendary sitarist Ravi Shankar. “I don’t think we set out to make an album about death,” Hewlett responds, seated beside his longtime collaborator. “But what we experienced in India inevitably fed our reflections and inspiration.”

Conceived as a journey through time and space—with cover art depicting the four members perched atop a mountain, “far from the madness of the world”—The Mountain is once again rich in prestigious guests, both living and deceased. Actor Dennis Hopper, who collaborated with the band in 2005 on “Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head,” appears at the album’s opening. Soul singer Bobby Womack and drummer Tony Allen also feature. On “The Moon Cave,” rapper Black Thought converses with Dave Jolicoeur of De La Soul, who passed away in 2023.

It’s a feat made possible by the extensive archives Gorillaz have amassed over the years. “We wanted to explore the idea of reincarnation we felt in India through a vast musical collage,” Albarn explains. “From the very beginning, when we wrote our manifesto, we decided Russell would have the power to revive the voices of the departed.” Hewlett, more forthcoming about his emotions, sees comfort in that idea. “We’d never thought of using the voices of collaborators who had passed away before, but it felt right to keep the Gorillaz family together. They’re still with us, in a way.”

"We worked with artists from all four corners of the planet. The album shows how wonderful it is to bring people together instead of constantly trying to divide everyone.” — Jamie Hewlett

After two decades of “tinkering with the future” and increasingly sophisticated visual experimentation, are Gorillaz succumbing to nostalgia? Albarn dismisses the notion as soon as it’s mentioned. “I don’t think that’s what we wanted to explore at all. In fact, I find it quite futuristic—the idea that individuality might gradually disappear and that people could end up living forever.”

The duo hasn’t forgotten the skepticism—even ridicule—they faced at the project’s inception. “People didn’t take us seriously because of the animated characters,” Albarn recalls. “But that didn’t stop us from bringing our ideas to life on our own terms.” Eventually, they became a source of inspiration for many others. “ABBA copied us with those huge hologram concerts. It’s something we couldn’t do today because people would think we were copying them!”

One area where Gorillaz have rarely been imitated is in their subject matter. Beneath their playful animated façade and infectious melodies, Albarn and Hewlett have often chronicled the excesses of the contemporary world—political tensions in the post-9/11 atmosphere of Demon Days, environmental collapse in Plastic Beach. The Mountain is just as political in its making. “We worked with artists from all over the globe,” Hewlett explains. “The album shows how wonderful it is to bring people together instead of constantly trying to divide them.”

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is another source of concern. For a band that merges music and animation—two creative fields especially vulnerable to AI—the issue is personal. “You can create an animated film or an album in five minutes with AI,” Albarn admits. “But there’s a soul in human creation that it can’t replicate. Right now, it just doesn’t hold up.”

“We don’t really know what artificial intelligence can truly offer us. Constantly trying to figure out its purpose is like trying to understand why dogs like sniffing shit.” — Damon Albarn

Last year, the singer joined a collective of a thousand Anglo-American artists, including Kate Bush and Hans Zimmer, to produce a completely silent 47-minute album. “The easiest album I’ve ever made,” he jokes. Comprising 12 tracks, Is This What We Want? was conceived to protest a proposed UK government bill that would allow AI companies to train models on copyrighted music without artists’ permission.

Albarn doesn’t hide his frustration at what he sees as a gift to tech giants: “We don’t know what artificial intelligence can really offer us. Constantly trying to figure out its purpose is like trying to understand why dogs like sniffing shit. We don’t know why they do it because it’s not a human trait. It’s the same with AI.”

So what’s the remedy for this irreversible dehumanization? For Albarn and Hewlett, it lies in nurturing creativity among their loved ones and collaborators. As two 57-year-old fathers, they readily acknowledge their children’s influence on Gorillaz’s evolution. “They make music, design, direct films. It can be intimidating showing them what we create! They have absolutely no problem telling us when we’re not cool.”

Allowing change—even a small rebirth—may also help them retain control over their future in the face of AI. Hewlett hints that the Gorillaz characters themselves might undergo a metamorphosis in the coming years. A way of resisting time? “You know, Bugs Bunny is over 80 and hasn’t changed one bit. But I’m thinking about something. I need them to change to keep wanting to draw them.”

The Mountain is also the first Gorillaz album released independently on Kong, the label founded by the band in 2025. A first in Albarn’s three-decade career, though he sees it less as liberation than as a logical next step. “We were surrounded by people ready to make that change. Gorillaz’s life hasn’t really been turned upside down. The only difference is that we owe ourselves a lot of money if we don’t sell records.”

by Adam Sanchez

The Mountain Review by Geislinger Zeitung

Between Life and Loss

The album “The Mountain” by The Mountain and singer Joanne Soulds, political issues and personal stories.

On the narrow paths in Fed Gendt lies the once red-and-white monastery “The Garden of Remembrance,” which in recent weeks has become a symbol of a painful conflict between two spiritual leaders. The current abbess, Mother Sabine von Montreux, accuses her predecessor, Sister Katja, of betraying her community and of grave misconduct.

The themes range from love, loss, and faith to political and social issues. Especially the tracks “The Children of the War” and “Voices of the People” have gained widespread attention. In interviews, Joanne Soulds emphasized that she wants to build bridges between cultures with her music.

The conflict in the monastery began after the sudden death of the former abbess, Sister Elisabeth. Shortly thereafter, Sister Katja was elected as the new leader. However, tensions soon arose between her and Mother Sabine, who had returned to the monastery after years abroad. Accusations of mismanagement, breaches of trust, and personal disappointments led to a deep division within the community.

Supporters of both sides have spoken publicly. While some praise Sister Katja for her progressive reforms and her openness to new spiritual approaches, others accuse her of abandoning traditional values. The dispute has not only shaken the monastery but has also sparked broader discussions about authority, responsibility, and the future of religious institutions.

Despite the painful developments, many members of the community hope for reconciliation. “The monastery has always been a place of silence, reflection, and unity,” one sister said. “We pray that we can find our way back to that spirit.”

International fans might be unsettled by songs in Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, or Yoruba, but Damon Albarn has never been one to take the easy route. Since Plastic Beach, the virtual collective has continued to expand — both musically and conceptually. On The Mountain, an album that is ambitious yet accessible, Albarn once again brings together a wide range of collaborators from different continents.

The result is a vibrant blend of Eastern and Western influences. The tracks move between meditative soundscapes and rhythmic, high-energy pop pieces. The linguistic and musical diversity never feels forced; instead, it emerges naturally from Gorillaz’s cosmopolitan universe.

With this album, Albarn once again proves that he has little interest in borders — whether geographic or stylistic — and that music can serve as a meeting place between cultures.

The Mountain Review by Rock & Folk (GE)

Mark E. Smith of The Fall, Tony Allen, the creator of Afrobeat, Bobby Womack — the list goes on. For years, rapper and “emcee” Dennis Hopper and “Easy Rider” have lent their voices to Damon Albarn, who could boast of a resurrection following a quarter-century of transforming his Britpop into blog-era sounds (living artists, therefore), beginning with the late Mingus popster whose albums could ensure a truly exceptional live performance.

On stage. On a somewhat (very) rebellious album — such as “The Happy Dictator,” about Russian oil magnates — today’s Damon perhaps responds subliminally to the track “The Dictator Declines” by The Psy Boys, which also sounds like a wink from the British band Sparks? Among the guest artists of honor are Anoushka Shankar, present on six tracks, and the touching archive sample with multiple references to Indian music, notably on “The Shadowy Light.”

What could have been other artists’ missteps here turns out to be guitars shifting into folk tones, allowing everything to flow within the same track: Johnny Marr’s guitar, Blaze’s rap (Thought), Anoushka Shankar’s sitar without losing the thread. “The Manifesto,” where Damon says “Dirty Harry,” and “Ex-Clash Paul Simonon” also make an appearance in “Ex-Smiths Johnny Marr” and “Casablancas.” Some of these combinations may seem improbable, like “The God of Lying” featuring Sparks, but they ultimately strengthen the overall coherence.

★★★

By Olivier Cachin

The Mountain review by The Guardian

a late career peak haunted by ghosts yet glowing with life.

It is 25 years since Gorillaz released their eponymous debut album. A project you might reasonably have assumed was a jokey one-off on the part of a Britpop star has instead lasted a quarter of a century, long enough for Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s concept of a “virtual group” to seem less like a snarky gag at the expense of manufactured pop than oddly commonplace: their latest release is launched into a world where cartoon K-pop bands Huntr/x and Saja Boys have collectively spent 100 weeks and counting on the UK singles chart, where the anime “vocaloid” Hatsune Miku is playing the O2 Arena and where celebrated producer Timbaland has launched an AI-generated singer called Tata Taktumi. Meanwhile, Gorillaz’s oeuvre has sprawled to nine albums, involving something like 100 guest artists; they are the thread that links Carly Simon to Shaun Ryder, Skepta to Lou Reed and Bad Bunny to Mark E Smith.

Perhaps inevitably, marshalling so many eclectic contributors has proved a challenge, even for someone as undoubtedly talented as Damon Albarn. Gorillaz albums are seldom concise affairs and are of variable quality, thus tricky to navigate. The best ones are those unified by a strong underlying concept, as on Demon Days’ glum survey of “the world in a state of night” post-9/11, or the ecological satire of 2010’s Plastic Beach.

And so it proves with The Mountain, inspired in equal parts by a visit to India and the deaths of Albarn and Hewlett’s fathers. Both seem reflected in the choice of guests. There are a host of Indian artists, from playback singer Asha Bhosle and eccentric space-disco diva Asha Puthli to a range of traditional musicians, including Anoushka Shankar. A sitar regularly twangs and buzzes (on The Plastic Guru, it twangs and buzzes in duet with the trebly guitar of Johnny Marr), a tambura regularly drones and the utterly lovely melody of the opening title track is played on a bansuri.

A lot of names on the guest list are effectively speaking to the listener from beyond the grave: Albarn has returned to old recordings he made with the late Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, Mark E Smith, Tony Allen, and rappers Proof of D12 and Trugoy the Dove of De La Soul. Death is part of the album’s sonic fabric, or more specifically, the sense that people live on after death. There’s nothing eerie or lachrymose about the way Proof’s guest verse bursts out of The Manifesto, or Mark E Smith snarls, slurs and cackles his way through Delirium’s massive chorus. Their voices sound commanding and powerful.

You might think you know what to expect from a Damon Albarn album informed by loss and grief. Melancholy is one of his trademark modes, expressed through the kind of wistful, descending melodies that liberally decorated Blur’s last album, The Ballad of Darren. Those certainly appear here – there’s a particularly beautiful example on The Empty Dream Machine – but the album’s overall mood is weirdly upbeat: post-disco boogie with lush cinematic strings on The Moon Cave; Bhosle’s vocals soaring joyfully over The Shadowy Light’s tinny synths; the Arabic acid house of Damascus.

If it sometimes feels like it’s trying a bit too hard to put a positive spin on things – Orange County splices Albarn’s crestfallen vocal “the hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love” with a gratingly perky tune being whistled – the light and shade is more usually perfectly weighted. On The God of Lying, an ominous vocal from Idles frontman Joe Talbot is set over a gleefully chaotic low-rent reggae backing, to arresting effect. The Happy Dictator acknowledges the superficial appeal of being shielded from bad news – “The palace of your mind will be bright!” – while underlining that those who might want to shield you from bad news invariably have a dark, ulterior motive. The Sweet Prince pictures Albarn at his father’s hospital bedside – “I was trying to say I love you, but you just looked the other way” – but the music offers muted elation in a hazy swirl of harp, sitar and electronics, as if highlighting a theme that crops up over and over again in the album’s lyrics, expressed in various ways and in different languages: “Living is the ending of the beginning.”

Moreover, the themes seem to tie The Mountain together. It feels more consistent – more like an album, less like a playlist constructed by someone with impressively wide-ranging taste – than its immediate predecessors: something you’re more likely to listen to from start to finish than play with your finger ready to click fast-forward, panning for the best bits. The result is an unexpected career highlight, a quarter of a century in.

★★★★

by Alexis Petridis

The Mountain Review by L'obs (FR)

For a Handful of Sitars

George Harrison and The Beatles collaborated with the Indian composer Ravi Shankar. On The Mountain, their ninth album, Damon Albarn and his band Gorillaz carry on that British tradition of engaging in dialogue with Indian music, joined by sitar player Anoushka Shankar, Ravi’s daughter. Albarn is not the “quintessential postmodern artist.” More modern, he is in fact post-romantic — one might even say almost surrealist. “The Manifesto” feels like the tongue-in-cheek manifesto of this lovable aesthete; Argentine rapper Trueno can be heard delivering lines in Spanish over the sound of tablas, set against a Chinese-inspired musical backdrop.

The album opens with its title track, “The Mountain,” unfolding like an Indian concert of bansuri, sitar, and sarod, before the Damon duo suddenly emerges in the form of a magnificent, melancholic pop melody carried by the flute. Also worth hearing is “The Empty Dream Machine,” driven by a reggae rhythm. But the album’s most distinctly Indian side is found in its joyful yet wistful spirit (for a handful of sitars, enveloping voices like Johnny Marr’s, and powerful horn-like flourishes reminiscent of Sparks, Bobby Womack, and drummer Tony Allen), especially on “Orange County,” with its Ennio Morricone-style whistled melody, where Gorillaz — and Damon Albarn, as usual with that slightly “telephone” vocal tone — speaks to us simply as Damon Albarn, the singer of Blur.

★★★★

by Fabrice Pliskin

The Mountain by Gala Magazine (Fr)

NEW EVEREST

With The Mountain (Kong Records), Gorillaz — the virtual band created twenty-five years ago by Damon Albarn, alongside Blur and in collaboration with illustrator Jamie Hewlett — reaches a new peak.

Its previous album, Cracker Island, was an oasis of electro pop-funk: effective, though not particularly surprising. Three years later, Gorillaz’s fourteenth album raises the bar with fifteen mystical, Eastern-inspired tracks, shaped by the passing of loved ones and by Damon Albarn’s father’s time in Varanasi, India’s spiritual capital. The record was recorded in London, Bombay, Damascus, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.

The Mountain, a reflection on vulnerability and transcendence, paints a cosmopolitan landscape, featuring anthems in English, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba. Prestigious collaborators include Sparks, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Paul Simonon of The Clash, Anoushka Shankar, as well as archival contributions from Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, and Tony Allen.

Powerful.

The Mountain Review by Diymag

With a six-month build-up and UK stadium shows on the horizon this summer, there’s a sense that Gorillaz are really going for it with ninth LP ‘The Mountain’. It may have something to do with this being the first release on their own Kong label but with remarkably sustained relevance over 25 years, it’s high cause for celebration. After dual Wembley Stadium shows with Blur back in 2023, Damon Albarn can now categorise two of his musical ventures as ‘stadium bands’.

After a run of looser themes on recent efforts, ‘The Mountain’ finds Gorillaz in full concept mode, committed with the same veracity as ‘Plastic Beach’. According to the Gorillaz story arc, the cartoon band find themselves in India gaining entry with fake passports. In our dimension, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett too travelled to India in 2024 to develop the LP (presumably using official documents) with the topic of mortality hanging heavy. Both members lost their dads in the same ten-day window very close to recording. Listed among the gargantuan credits are the ‘voices from elsewhere’ - vocal snags from collaborators who have passed. Sometimes there’s just a flavour - Dennis Hopper and Tony Allen mutter a few words - while sometimes it’s a full-blown composition, such as the fantastic ‘Delirium’.

The album’s ruminations on mortality aren’t the most natural fit for stadiums on paper - you wonder how the serene opening instrumental will go down at Tottenham Hotspur this summer. But in classic Gorillaz style, a genre switch into ‘The Moon Cave’ sets the scene sparkling with a bouncy synth bass smoothed out by buttery soulful strings and a pitch-shifted Jalen Ngonda. The group’s sporadic output still gifts Albarn licence to quantum leap styles track-to-track without prompting a double-take.

Indian instrumentation adds a new tool to Damon’s sonic arsenal. In the wrong hands, the results could be gimmicky but here the Gorillaz formula never waivers, even when 91-year-old Bollywood star Asha Bholse takes centre stage with Gruff Rhys on the spiritual electronica of ‘The Shadowy Light’. ‘Damascus’ and the aforementioned ‘Delirium’ mark a hotspot in the LP - a raga-inflected riff spiders out of control on the former while the latter is propped up by a thunderous prodding bass before striking disco strings slice up Mark E Smith’s unmistakable vocal.

Damon is well known for melancholy. The tenor of his voice coils itself so naturally around minor chords, which it does at several tender moments here like ‘Casablanca’ and ‘The Sweet Prince’. Yet the decision to mine the Eastern take on death - a much more optimistic alternative to our Western one - frequently yields joyful results. ‘The Mountain’ shows it’s a stance we could all learn from.

★★★★

by Sean Kerwick

The Mountain Review by Glide Magazine

In this new era of Gorillaz, which ultimately began when the virtual band returned from a seven-year hiatus with the release of Humanz in 2017, the Damon Albarn-led outfit has been more prolific than ever. In the four albums they’ve released post-hiatus, they’ve tapped into the collaborative energy that defined the band while returning to more insular releases that depict the band’s current mindset and reach new levels of vulnerability. All this to say, Gorillaz are far from done evolving, navigating their maturity and the turbulent times with the same child-like whimsy that makes their sonic carnival rides through their innate prowess such memorable, beloved moments in contemporary music. 

While Albarn, Jamie Hewlett, and Remi Kabaka Jr. have seemed hellbent on making this new era of Gorillaz something reminiscent yet separate from the band’s earlier years, they return to a familiar formula on The Mountain, their ninth studio album. The warping 15-song LP brings back the feeling of classic Gorillaz, with the band employing familiar and refreshing faces from across the musical spectrum to execute their lofty visions of modern fusion. The Mountain is far from a repeat of similar Gorillaz releases, like Plastic Beach and Humanz. This is not an attempt to recapture old glory, rather a reinvention of the collaborative sonic disposition the band helped coin on the aforementioned albums. The Mountain is even more worldly, inclusive, focused, and overall, a welcome continuation of a discography that already sits among the most diverse and acclaimed in recent memory. 

The Mountain may seem like a sprawling collection of songs tied together loosely by a hidden theme, but that is only on the surface level. These 15 songs fly by before you even know it, but the proof is in the air, as Gorillaz dance with the ethereal while proving to be stubbornly aware of their presence in music. This is a band with nothing left to prove, showcasing a hunger for new ground, and the terrain they landed on is as immersive as it gets from the opening psychedelia of the title track and album opener, to the angelic harmonies that close out the LP on “The Sad God,” Gorillaz piece together this head-spinning puzzle to showcase a portrait of wild risks that yield greater rewards. 

At this point in their career, Gorillaz have their pick of A-list stars to bring into their fold, but that would detract from what makes The Mountain feel so special. Flutist Ajay Prasanna, sitar specialist and multi-instrumentalist Anoushka Shankar, and Hip-hop hero Black Thought become the unofficial main characters, popping up on multiple tracks and aiding in the cohesion that is miraculously maintained throughout this tracklist. Shankar’s sitar is the psychedelic force behind highlights like the pop-tinted “Orange County” and the slow-burning grace of “The Sweet Prince.” These two moments also introduce the more introspective side of The Mountain, including the lush “The Empty Dream Machine” and the cinematic “Casablanca,” featuring Johnny Marr and Paul Simonon. 

While these moments of deep thought lend The Mountain a spiritual quality, they are broken up by electronic, danceable tunes. The Mark E. Smith-assisted “Delirium” is electro-dance bliss with hectic synth work. “The Manifesto,” featuring up-and-coming Argentinian rapper Trueno and the late, great Detroit Hip-hop star Proof, is a lively, growing onslaught that bridges generations. At the same time, Yasiin Bey and Omar Souleyman bring new colors to the jumpy “Damascus.” 

he Mountain is quick to juxtapose the same mood it established only a few songs ago, but that unpredictability is exactly where Gorillaz thrive. These 15 songs are more than a collection of ideas; they are a breathing testament to restless creativity, an ode to looking back long enough to remember while snapping back to the present, keeping an eye on the future. The Mountain successfully captures Gorillaz’ individuality without repeating it, pushing the band even further into this new era of experimentation with some of their most daring yet honed music in years.

by Ryan Dillon

Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett Interview by LA LIBRE

How did India end up becoming the setting for “The Mountain”?

Jamie Hewlett – At the end of 2022, I traveled to India with my wife and her mother. We had to extend our stay in Jaipur for family reasons (my mother-in-law fell into a coma — Ed.). I could have experienced that as something traumatic, but the experience actually enriched me. I told Damon Albarn that we absolutely had to go back to India to make the new Gorillaz album there.

Damon Albarn – In the meantime, my father and Jamie’s father passed away just a few days apart. And I was about to turn sixty… All of that gave us ideas.

Themes of death, loss, and divinity run through several songs on “The Mountain.” Yet the record is far from depressing.

D. A. – In a way, we wanted to make an album about death that would help people feel less afraid of it. But I’ve never been very good at making music you could call “happy.” By default, I always lean toward melancholy. Which is a bit ironic, because in everyday life I’m actually a pretty cheerful guy.

When India is mentioned in pop music, people immediately think of the influence it had on the Beatles or Brian Jones of the Stones. Did you have those references in mind?

J. H. – We were aware of them, but they didn’t influence us. All those references go back to the 1960s. Since then, a thousand things have happened. In pop music, and in India too.

D. A. – There was a strange episode, though. In New Delhi, I randomly came across a sitar shop: no sign, just a modest storefront tucked away in an alley. The owner told me he was the grandson of the man who sold George Harrison his first sitar. I noticed he was wearing a ring with the Aries symbol on it. The more we talked, the more I felt connected to him. I asked his age and realized we were born on the same day. There’s something almost cosmological about that. As if I was meant to go to India to make music there. But we didn’t come back as sixty-year-olds enlightened by Hare Krishna. In the end, we just made a Gorillaz album.

On “The Shadowy Light,” you invited Asha Bosle, the greatest Indian singer. Did you have to convince her?

D. A. – Asha Bhosle is a living legend. She has appeared in more than 800 Bollywood films and recorded around 5,000 songs. In Mumbai, there are statues of her everywhere. We spent the day in her apartment. There was no need to convince her. She told us, “I still need to keep learning.” She’s 92 years old. Can you imagine? I’ve never worked with an artist with such character.

When did the mountain theme that gives the album its title come about?

J. H. – We visited Amber Fort, not far from Jaipur. There was a musician playing a one-string violin. The melody coming from his instrument inspired Damon. He called it The Mountain, which became the opening track of the record and ultimately its title. It was similar to what happened with our album Plastic Beach in 2010. When you find a title like that, a lot of ideas start to emerge: the path to the top of the mountain, what lies on the other side, the descent, reincarnation… It’s very inspiring.

Did the loss of your fathers bring you closer together?

D. A. – Jamie and I have always been very close. Of course, our relationship has evolved along with our own human and artistic paths. This time, the string snapped more or less at the same moment for both of us. It allowed us to grieve together and transform sadness into something brighter. That’s something we’ve always done with Gorillaz: learn more about ourselves, move forward, and collaborate with people from all over the world.

You pay tribute to your late fathers but also to many artists who have passed away and who collaborated with Gorillaz. Was this the right moment to do it?

J. H. – From the very first Gorillaz album in 2001, I created the virtual character Russel Hobbs, who functioned as a kind of reincarnation of the spirits of departed musicians. We had somewhat abandoned that idea until The Mountain. In several songs, Damon included previously unreleased segments from sessions with guest artists who appeared on our earlier records and who are no longer with us: Bobby Womack, Dennis Hopper, Tony Allen…

Gorillaz is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the exhibition House Of Kong, launched in London last summer and currently showing in Los Angeles. Do you remember how it all began?

D. A. – The beginnings of Gorillaz? We were approaching the new millennium. It was an anxious time; people thought everything might glitch. After the fears of the Cold War and AIDS, the transition to the year 2000 felt like an existential threat. Our first album, Gorillaz, was born in that context. When we started working on the second album, Demon Days, I remember being at my sister’s house. We were making tea to start what seemed like an ordinary day. We turned on the TV. It was September 11, 2001… A new fear. The idea behind Gorillaz was to create avatars and travel into a world where we felt less vulnerable.

A Gorillaz exhibition in Belgium?

J. H. – We weren’t entirely sure how to approach the exhibition at first. It’s never easy to retrace your steps. But we worked with a team that guided us really well. My sister saw House Of Kong in London and burst into tears. She told me: “The drawings, the characters, the awful smell of the figurines representing the members of Gorillaz… it all reminds me of your bedroom when you were a kid.” I hope you’ll get the chance to see the exhibition in Belgium.

You created a virtual band and used 3D in your concerts. What’s your view on AI?

J. H. – How do you react when you listen to a track produced by AI? Do you cry? Do you laugh? No — you feel nothing. AI only serves to make us lazier. We’re not interested in AI at all. AI is the past — it’s what already exists. If you use it as an artist, you’re a thief. Gorillaz has never relied on those kinds of practices. Our project began as a reaction to mass-produced pop that was constantly broadcast on MTV. Maybe today Gorillaz is more necessary than ever to counter artificial intelligence.

interview by Luc Lorfèvre - La Libre

Promo Photo

The Mountain Review by Scotsman

New album The Mountain sees Gorillaz offer a light, joyful and multi-lingual reflection on where our souls go after we die.

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have not always had the most harmonious of relationships but the two creators of Gorillaz were united in grief when their fathers passed away within ten days of each other in the summer of 2024. In response, their ninth album, The Mountain, is essentially a healing ritual, drawing on South Asian practices, instrumentation and imagery.

The result is a light and joyful multi-lingual reflection on where souls go next, recorded in London and around India with their most diverse cohort of co-conspirators yet, from sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar to former Clash man Paul Simenon, the redoubtable Sparks to legendary Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle, US rapper Black Thought to Syrian singer Omar Souleyman.

As if to underline their act of remembrance, Albarn has unearthed vocals recorded by Gorillaz collaborators who have since passed away, including Bobby Womack, Mark E Smith, Tony Allen, Dave Jolicoeur of De La Soul and the inimitable Dennis Hopper who mumbles a meditation on the sunlit raga of the opening title track. There is also no mistaking the winning plaintive tones of Albarn (in the guise of Gorillaz cartoon vocalist 2D) on the silky electro pop of The Moon Cave.

Sparks put their idioysyncratic stamp on the suitably cheery portrait of The Happy Dictator. Likewise, The Plastic Guru is another happy mantra tinged with political piquancy. The God Of Lying, meanwhile, is a lowslung dub with deadpan provocation from Joe Talbot of Idles.

As usual, Albarn creates mystical pop alchemy with disparate sounds and tones. Souleyman perks up Damascus in the company of rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), while Bhosle’s instantly recognizable sound is woven around the hangdog delivery of Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys over the steady pulse of The Shadowy Light. The Empty Dream Machine combines easy listening sitar, forceful rap and mellow soul pop, The Manifesto journeys through light and shade across seven minutes and The Sweet Prince is a charming chiming Beach Boys-style reverie inspired by Albarn’s father’s final days.

★★★★

by Fiona Shepherd

The Mountain Review by The Times

"...superb album inspired by the death of a father..."

On the title track that opens Gorillaz’s frankly surprising new album, sitar, flute and tabla play what is essentially a raga in the Indian classical tradition. This from a band conceived in 1998 by Damon Albarn of Blur and the comic artist Jamie Hewlett as a two-dimensional entity, a cartoon creation, with fictional band members behind which Albarn and Hewlett could build an imaginary world, play around with style and genre, and be liberated from the personas most performers carry around with them until they die.

Elsewhere Anoushka Shankar’s sitar floats over a sad rumination on death called The Empty Dream Machine and the 91-year-old Hindi film singer Asha Bhosle contributes to The Shadowy Light, a lovely tale of being ferried by the silent boatman across the unknown.

As it turns out, Gorillaz’s pivot toward Indian music is no mere gap year-style act of cultural appropriation, like growing dreadlocks and saying “namaste” after two weeks in Goa. After his father, Keith, died in July 2024 Albarn travelled to Varanasi, the holy city in northern India where Hindus are cremated to ensure a smooth journey into the next life, to scatter his ashes. Coincidentally Hewlett, whose father died ten days after Keith, was in Jaipur, Rajasthan, with his mother-in-law when she suffered a stroke from which she never recovered. So began an album inspired by the Indian concept of death not as the end but as a transition to a new beginning.

Maybe that helps to explain why so many of the guest artists chosen for the album are no longer with us, appearing in prerecorded snippets. Tony Allen, a Nigerian drummer of legend who worked extensively with Albarn, pops up on The Hardest Thing, a fanfare-like song about how hard it is to be left behind after someone you love dies. You can hear Bobby Womack and David Jolicoeur of De La Soul in funky The Moon Cave, while the ghost of Mark E Smith of the Fall is revived on Delirium, sounding like a deranged train announcer as he barks something about shrunken heads before laughing maniacally.

This being Gorillaz, the music is playful and exploratory rather than sombre and sentimental, and it isn’t all about death. The Happy Dictator, featuring a hysterical contribution from Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks (who are alive), is a portrait of the kind of autocrats who have been thriving in the post-truth era from North Korea to North America. The Plastic Guru concerns a similar character, albeit one who allows his followers to believe what comforts them while keeping more complex realities at bay.

Such heavy themes are couched in some of the best songs of Gorillaz’s 25-year career: variously cheerful, melancholic and reassuring, and infused with the freewheeling hip-hop spirit that got them going in the first place. “I gave you atoms, you built a bomb,” Albarn sings on The Sad God, a gloomy reflection on humanity’s folly perhaps, yet somehow this superb album looks death and destruction in the face and comes back smiling. 

★★★★★

by Will Hodgkinson

The Mountain Review by Riff Magazine

Gorillaz balance nostalgia and futurism on ‘The Mountain’

Certainly, the late, great David Bowie looms large in our cultural memory. Jan. 10 marked a decade since the Thin White Duke shuffled off his mortal coil. And yet, Bowie is still the gold standard in terms of transcending his own weirdness and forging an enduring musical legacy out of his own disparate genre explorations. There’s a little David Bowie in all of pop music. With its distinctive visual stylings, exotic appropriations and A-list collaborations, The Mountain, the latest Gorillaz album, seems cut from Bowie’s musical cloth.

Like Bowie, part of the album’s air of sophistication is derived from the exotic otherness of its influences. Mountain borrows liberally from Indian subcontinent music. Tanpuras provide a syrupy drone while sitar players pluck out Eastern-sounding melodies on the album’s satiny opening title track, performed by classical flautist Ajay Prasanna and Ravi Shankar’s daughter, Anoushka Shankar.

The Gorillaz’ ninth album — and first since 2023’s Cracker Island — finds the band’s cartoon characters Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, 2D and Noodle in Mumbai, turning to spiritual matters, having turned their back on international pop stardom, according to reports. Along with the new album, the band’s website, Kong Studios, now features a zombie-killing game alongside merch and tour details.

Like Bowie, who worked with everyone from Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor to Queen’s Freddie Mercury, the latest from Gorillaz features collaborations with a who’s who from an array of genres. The bubbly synthesized pop of “The Happy Dictator” features brothers Ron and Russel Mael of L.A. duo Sparks. The song centers on the cult of personality that lies at the heart of every totalitarian regime (and which would not be a stretch to apply to our current dystopia).

“In a world of fiction, I am a velvet glove (Oh, what a happy land we live in)/ I am your soul, your resurrection, I am the love,” Gorllaz’ mastermind Damon Albarn and Ron and Russell Mael sing over a plastic fantastic groove.

“The God of Lying” returns to the circus-tinged synth-heavy pop that launched the band to superstardom with hits like “Clint Eastwood.” The song, which also seems relevant to our current dark political times, features IDLES vocalist Joe Talbot delivering a subdued monolog over synthesized clanging, asking a series of pointed questions.

“Do you love your blessed father?/ Anoint by fear of death?/ Do you feel the lies creep on by?/ As soft as baby’s breath/ Do you beg that truth will set you free?” he sings.

Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr appears on four songs on the album: “The Empty Dream Machine,” “The Plastic Guru,” “Casablanca” and “The Sweet Prince.” The last of the bunch is the only one with discernible guitar parts, with synth-heavy grooves comprising the other three collaborations.

The slightly disco-tinged “Delirium” features vocals from Mark E. Smith of The Fall, who passed away in 2018. On this song, as well as others with contributions from musicians who have passed away like Tony Allen (“The Hardest Thing”) and Bobby Womack (“The Moon Cave”), Albarn used past recordings from Gorillaz’ sessions.

On “Delirium,” Smith delivers the song’s chorus in his characteristically strident British accent, singing, “Dеlirium/ Delirium/ Staring at my window.”

The Mountain is an elaborate album that manages to sound both futuristic and nostalgic. This is thanks in part to rich list of collaborators that includes rapper Black Thought, Argentine artist Trueno, northern soul revivalist Jalen Ngonda, Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) and Welsh multi-hyphenate Gruff Rhys. The album is at turns lush and funky, suggesting that Albarn continues to work in the medium of Bowie.

8/10

byDavid Gill

Wonderland Magazine

The band is on the cover of Wonderland Magazine for the Spring 2026 issue. The magazine headlines the feature: “The Art and Soul of Gorillaz.”

You can read the interview with Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett by clicking here.

Photo promo

The Mountain Review by Crypticrock.

While the concept of a virtual band seems more believable and accepted in 2026, when Gorillaz emerged from another dimension at the launch of the new millennium, it was something peculiar and unexpected. Brainstormed by Blur’s Damon Albarn and Comic Artist Jamie Hewlett as a satirical reaction to the vacuous manufacturing of Pop music by record labels during the late ‘90s, Gorillaz invented a compelling alternative reality with the characters of the band being D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums). Only building on this story since 2000, with various wrinkles along the way, Gorillaz has proven to be a striking combination of visual art and musicality.

Far and away different than anything else out there in the last twenty-plus years, their mix of Hip Hop, Electronic, Rock, Pop, and much more, Gorillaz have captured the imagination of listeners from their 2001 Gorillaz debut and 2005’s Demon Days through to 2017’s Humanz, 2018’s The Now Now, 2023’s Cracker Island, and everything in between. Plotting to make each of their records sonically different, while also interjecting new visuals, in 2026, Gorillaz deliver perhaps their most broad-reaching collection of songs to date with The Mountain.

Set for release on February 27, 2026, through Gorillaz’s own label, KONG, The Mountain is their ninth studio album and once again takes you on an extremely unconventional musical journey. Providing context to it all, The Mountain is said to be a metaphor for life’s journey, and how you travel through it to the peak. A heavy subject matter of life, death, and curiosity about what comes thereafter, Gorillaz’s primary creators, Alban and Hewlett, derived deeper inspiration from a trip to India following the death of their fathers.

A loss that weighed heavily on their hearts, their trip to places like Jaipur, Mumbai, and Delhi brought them closer to Eastern philosophies. Having spent most of their lives in Western culture, the foundational Hindu and Buddhist ideas, such as Samsara (a concept of a continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth) and Moksha (final liberation, achieving the ultimate spiritual goal), provided an enrichment that did not exist before. Again, concepts that might be foreign to those in the Western world, Gorillaz’s The Mountain interweaves these ideas into a musical escapade that acts as a celebration of life, which Alban and Hewlett sought to make a more optimistic post-death party playlist.

With this background in mind, going into The Mountain, you will now have a better understanding of the musical approach on the album that fuses Indian Classical music, Hip Hop, and Electronic Pop. Sticking with the theme of the life and death, The Mountain also does well of interjecting the voices of those who have passed on into it all, including Soul legend Bobby Womack, Afrobeat Drummer Tony Allen, The Fall’s Vocalist Mark E. Smith, De La Soul’s Trugoy the Dove, and the voices of iconic Actor Dennis Hopper, as well as Albarn’s own dad, Keith Albarn.

Clearly a very personal record, the album also includes living collaborators such as world-reowned Sitarist Anoushka Shankar, Argentian Bizzarap, Sparks, IDLES, The Clash’s Paul Simonon, iconic Guitarist Johnny Marr, The Roots’ Black Thought, Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle, Mos Def, Syrian Omar Souleyman, Amaan & Ayanna Ali Bangash, as well as De La Soul’s Maseo and Pos.

Making it an extremely worldly adventure with Pop, Rock, Electronic, and Indian Classical musicians involved, upon first listen, you might be taken aback, but once you open your mind, you will find it engaging the senses. Consisting of a total of fifteen songs, the album jumps around with an eclectic mixture, with many standouts including “The Moon Cave,” quirky “The Happy Dictator,” the perky “Orange County,” and a smoky, mesmerizing “The Empty Dream Machine.”

From here there are many other unexpected twists and turns, but perhaps one of the most capativing moments comes with the opening title track (which really sets a mood with the sitar playing and voices from beyond in the backdrop toward the conclusion), “Damascus” (with its imposible to resist Middle Eastern melody), and the dream-like “The Sweet Prince.”

Overall, The Mountain is anything but a straightforward record. It is highly experimental and could be a bit bizarre to the average ear, but isn’t that the attraction to Gorillaz in the first place? All things considered, The Mountain is a bold, cathartic record that takes the somber reality of losing someone you love and the feeling that they are gone forever, morphing it into hope that their spirit still lives on. That is why Cryptic Rock urges you to climb The Mountain and gives it 5 out of 5 stars.

★★★★★

The Mountain Review by The Standard (UK)

Life (and dazzling music) after death

Death looms large over The Mountain, not as utter bleak finality but as transcendence. The opening title track here - along with some lovely hand-painted artwork by Jamie Hewlett - sets the sonic scene with Indian musicians Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar (daughter of the revered sitar legend Ravi), Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, bringing the epic beauty to a track rooted in grief and rage but aiming so high it wants to reach the dead. In this track’s case it finds Dennis Hopper, the film star who knew plenty about rage and highs in his time.

Damon Albarn lost his father ahead of the making of this album, and mourned his loss in India, where Hewlett too lost a family member in the same period. The country thus informs the sound and spiritual searching across this album - with the conceit for the Gorillaz characters being on the run from the law and heading on a manga-style quest into the subcontinent - yet any fears of hippie pretension are quickly dispelled. This long and ambitious album - 15 tracks - retains the playful culture clashing that has made Gorillaz such a worldwide hit machine over the last 25 years.

This time around the guest spots include contributors from beyond the grave, with the voices of Bobby Womack, Tony Allen and Mark E. Smith showing that death is not necessarily the end (especially in pop). This is not AI but recordings sampled at length to startling effect: Delirium begins with Albarn mournfully staring at the ashes in the shadow of an autocrat ruler, before Smith then bursts back into life, cackling and slurring with inspired apocalyptic lunacy in true Fall style; it just works. Likewise, the central Eastern hip-hop epic The Manifesto begins with Argentinian rapper Trueno but half-way through, with a monumental flourish, hands the mic to D12 rapper Proof, who was killed in 2006; it is an early freestyle during an early Gorillaz session on which he goes, “You aren’t ready for death , until I showed up, hold breath.” Eerie, yes, but in the conceit of the album it feels powerful not exploitative.

All part of the freewheeling Gorillaz fun basically, which frequently finds inspiration in despair. Anoushka Shankar and Smiths legend Johnny Marr are key components, guesting across several tracks and bringing a psychedelic counter-culture rock side to the record, but really this is impossible to pin down. Prog hip-hop? Hymn-pop? Death-rave? Whatever it is, it’s gripping, as it skips between IDLES guesting on the bubblegum cyberpunk of The God of Lying, Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle taking Charon’s boat to the underworld on The Shadowy Light, or the magical Damascus which features Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey on a delirious disco dance through war zones looking for the light.

Yes there’s darkness, and particularly rage about the new autocratic age – see The Happy Dictator – but it’s Albarn’s ode to his dad from his side at the hospital, The Sweet Prince, that will break your heart at the end. Despite everything, love and peace are where it starts and where it ends.

★★★★★

by Martin Robinson

The Mountain review by Financial Times

The Mountain matches the peaks of early Gorillaz albums 

Damon Albarn is, by his own description, “very competitive”. Back when Britpop was in full swing, he threw himself into the publicity campaign of Blur and Oasis’s rivalry as if it were the FA Cup final. But he also has a contrary talent for collaboration. It has blossomed in his side-project, Gorillaz.

Albarn created Gorillaz as a cartoon virtual band with comic book artist Jamie Hewlett in 1998. Hewlett’s visuals were inspired by Japanese manga, while Albarn’s songs drew on whatever caught his magpie attention: hip-hop, bubblegum pop, Latin music. Immense chart success — 7mn sales for their self-titled debut in 2001, 8mn for its 2005 follow-up, Demon Days — allowed the scope to grow vaster. A madcap array of guests have appeared in Gorillaz’s songs, from Elton John and Bad Bunny to the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music.

The Mountain matches the peaks of the first three Gorillaz albums, after which the quality dipped. It takes Albarn and Hewlett’s cartoon band to a new destination: India. The theme is death and the afterlife, inspired by Albarn’s trip to Varanasi to scatter his father’s ashes in the Ganges.

Famous names from Indian music are joined by a diverse set of musicians from elsewhere. Anoushka Shankar’s sitar sparkles on “The Plastic Guru” alongside Johnny Marr’s chiming guitar. Venerated vocalist Asha Bhosle sings on “The Shadowy Light”, a Bollywood-style ballad shaped by a typically bittersweet Albarn melody.

The music blends numerous different styles without losing coherence. Indian themes are synthesised with the sounds of funk, rock, Arabic music, reggaeton and rap. Posthumous vocals by now-deceased collaborators from previous Gorillaz albums are mixed with the voices of the living.

Detroit rapper Proof, who died in 2006, freestyles about mortality in “The Manifesto”, counterpointed by a spirited turn from youthful Argentine rapper Trueno. Tony Allen, whose pioneering Afrobeat percussion adorned many of Albarn’s songs until the drummer’s death in 2020, has a voiceover in “The Hardest Thing”, a lament that turns into a fanfare. Pointedly, it contains no drums.

Albarn joins the many vocalists, adopting the weary melancholic tone that has become his default in middle age. It often casts a drizzly pall over his vibrant musical imagination, but here the effect strikes the right note. The Mountain brims with life even as it faces up to the inevitability of death. Ever the competitor, Albarn is determined to steal a win.

★★★★☆

by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney

The Mountain review by The Skinny (UK)

Gorillaz explore life, death and what comes next on their ninth album The Mountain.

It’s hard to believe that 25 years have passed since Gorillaz released their debut album. Damon Albarn and visual artist Jamie Hewlett’s pioneering project sang of having sunshine in a bag back then, amidst a dystopian future which now eerily feels like 'it’s comin’ on'. Their ninth record sees the group’s cartoon characters travel to India to tackle life, death, and what comes next. Learning that Albarn and Hewlett recently lost their fathers just ten days apart from one another makes this all the more poignant, and while The Mountain’s expansive palette is inextricably Gorillaz, its messages offer something that we can all learn from. 

The Shadowy Light, featuring 91-year-old Bollywood queen Asha Bhosle, talks of embracing life after death, rather than fearing it. Posthumous features from Tony Allen (The Hardest Thing) and Mark E Smith (Delirium) bolster this Hindu ethos further. The Sad God and The Empty Dream Machine fuse world problems with personal loss, while Orange County and Damascus (featuring Yasiin Bey, fka Mos Def) offer the album’s catchiest hooks. There’s collaborations and musical fusions galore here, but this only scratches the surface. Ultimately, The Mountain blends darkness with light to explore the thrills of existence in Gorillaz’ own idiosyncratic way.

★★★★

 by Jamie Wilde

The Mountain Review by Slant Magazine

Damon Albarn Exorcises His Grief with Heavenly Hosts, The album is exemplary of the ways in which art can be used to exorcise grief.

Much of Gorillaz’s output since they returned from an extended hiatus in 2017 has felt frustratingly slapdash, their recent albums resembling the sort of shapeless, auto-generated playlists of vaguely similar songs you find on streaming platforms. Happily, their ninth studio album, The Mountain, bucks that trend toward underdeveloped, disposable fodder, resulting in Gorillaz’s best work since 2010’s Plastic Beach.

Frontman Damon Albarn has always approached Gorillaz with the uninhibited experimentalism of Paul McCartney’s self-titled albums, playing and singing every note himself, save for drums by Remi Kabaka Jr. and varied contributions from featured guests. But lately that parallel has been more in line with post-Band on the Run Wings than the quirky underdog spirit of McCartney and McCartney II. Albarn has, until now, appeared to be running on autopilot.

The Mountain finds him once again conjuring a colorful dreamworld, one that feels strangely coherent for all the different voices that float in and out of it. Like Demon Days, which deals with post-9/11 malaise, and the ecologically minded Plastic Beach, The Mountain is constructed around a strong conceptual framework whose themes of loss and the indefatigability of the human spirit extend to the disparate styles and varied performances within.

The album’s unity of purpose and effect is embodied by the recurring presence of sitar player and musician Anoushka Shankar. The music of Anouchka’s father, Ravi, was beloved by Albarn’s dad, and the beauty and warmth of her sitar playing, along with the other Indian classical instruments that accompany her (as well as the vocals of Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle on “The Shadowy Light”), gives voice to Albarn’s grief over the death of his father.

Albarn spread his father’s ashes in the Ganges, where he was exposed to the Hindu tradition of mourning, which is expressed openly and communally. After Jamie Hewlett, the cartoonist responsible for Gorillaz’s visual presentation, lost his father barely a week after Albarn’s, it was decided that Hindu and Buddhist philosophies around mortality would be the focal point of The Mountain, which is woven into the subtext of the music throughout.

A number of former collaborators make posthumous appearances on the album, including De La Soul’s David Jolicoeur, D12 rapper Proof, and singer-songwriter Mark E. Smith. With the exception of an awkward attempt at rendering some typically indiscernible ranting from Smith into a banger of a chorus on “Delirium,” these cameos from the beyond are thoughtfully executed and don’t detract from the album’s myriad moods, which range from the elegiac (“The Hardest Thing”) to the joyful (“The Moon Cave”).

The Mountain is exemplary of the ways in which art can be used to exorcise grief. That Albarn has managed to channel his feelings of loss into music that teems with warmth and empathy while continuing Gorillaz’s mission of providing a platform for a multitude of voices and cultural traditions positions The Mountain among his most accomplished albums. 

★★★★

 by Lewie Parkinson-Jones

The Mountain Review by Les Inrockuptibles (FR)

Packed with guest artists—both living and departed—“The Mountain” sets its course toward India and beyond in a multilingual, genre-blending experience.

Over twenty-five years of their career, Gorillaz have never stopped moving, exploring every musical style and using each album as an opportunity to venture into new territories alongside an ever-changing cast of collaborators.

The only constant for this virtual band—recently spotted in Fortnite Festival—now very much tangible, is the insatiable and fascinating curiosity of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. For their ninth album, the duo turned their attention to Indian culture, as suggested by the title written in Devanagari on the cover.

Notes of sitar, hip-hop, and echoes of rock…

Enchanting sitar notes can be heard from the very first seconds, as if sealing a spell that only lifts after fifteen songs, leaving the listener pleasantly transported by these exotic textures.

Traditional music from the country of Ravi Shankar—whose daughter, Anoushka Shankar, performs on several tracks—acts as the guiding thread. Yet many other cultures intertwine across this multilingual album, sung in English, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, and Yoruba.

Among the highlights are hip-hop moments featuring Black Thought and longtime collaborator Yasiin Bey, bright synth-pop (including The Happy Dictator, one of the album’s peaks, with the energetic Sparks), rock echoes with Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr, as well as touches of reggae and electro-pop.

Part of the album’s dreamlike quality comes from the ease with which it leaps between genres, freed from constraints—especially since The Mountain is the first album Gorillaz have released through their own independent label, without the major label that had supported them since the beginning.

Blurring the boundaries

That mirage-like atmosphere is also shaped by the voices of some of their late collaborators—Tony Allen, Mark E. Smith, and Bobby Womack—which resurface and contribute to the album’s overall mystical mood.

Since their previous record, the two founders have lost people close to them and seem intent on blurring the boundaries with the beyond.

Recorded between the London studio of the Blur frontman, the United States, India, and even the Milky Way, this wandering album—balanced along an imaginary ridge—highlights Damon Albarn’s remarkable songwriting and distinctive voice. One example is The Sweet Prince, a ballad both magical and melancholic that is sure to linger long after the final note.

by Noémie Lecoq

Big Ups: Gorillaz Pick Their Bandcamp Favorites by Bandcamp

Gorillaz have recommended a few albums they dig on Bandcamp. 

Only on a new album from Gorillaz could Dennis Hopper share space with Omar Souleyman or the voices of the late Mark E. Smith and the legendary Asha Bhosle appear just a few tracks apart. As always, the album is a giddy grab bag of sounds: “The Moon Cave” features vocals from Indian disco icon Asha Puthli and is a lithe and silky track tailor-made for couple skates, while “The Empty Dream Machine,” with Black Thought, Johnny Marr, and Anoushka Shankar, is Bowie-esque in its free-floating atmospherics. Yet all of it flows effortlessly, and has the feel of a long, winding, deliberate journey under humid, overcast skies. It also betrays a wide host of influences, so we corralled the group’s four members to get an idea of what they’ve been listening to lately.

See the playlist here: clicking here.

Promo photo.

The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God - A Making Of

The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God - A Making Of. Premieres 4pm GMT, Friday 27th February. Only YOUTUBE PREMIUM

Watch here: 

Promo photo

The Mountain Review by The Uncoming (UK)

Across two neighbouring tracks on The Mountain, titled The Hardest Thing and Orange County, Damon Albarn repeats the refrain: “You know the hardest thing / Is to say goodbye to someone you love.” The Gorillaz’s ninth studio album is an exploration of feeling loss amidst the richness of that which remains present and opens with its title track, built around a Rajasthani melody on strings. Experienced alongside Jamie Hewlett’s album artwork of the group’s core members, atop a mountain, looking out into the sublime, the track invites us to take a moment out of our day to remember our oneness with all creation.

This is not a push towards escapism, however – the record is not afraid to dwell in darkness, and tracks such as The Empty Dream Machine succeed in expressing deep sadness without a hint of despondency. Grounded in the uncertainty of right now, we carry the memory of the view from that mountain-top in The Happy Dictator, a collaboration with US-based duo Sparks that plays with the language of rhetoric and illusion over a disquietingly upbeat set of chords – until the empty words return to us, reassuringly, as simply a combination of sounds that can be made into music, just like everything else.

Albarn has also revived his role as a discerning curator, and the album features brilliant talent from across the globe. The Moon Cave offers funk-inspired synths beneath folk-style verses provided by a range of guest vocalists – Jalen Ngonda, Black Thought (of The Roots fame), the renowned Asha Puthli – whose voices sound like they simply belong together. The Manifesto’s mingling of triumphant, fearless declarations from Trueno and the late great Proof (D12) with the classical tones of Ajay Prasanna’s flute is another journey through time and space that appears inevitable once it reaches the listener. Elsewhere, we hear the heavy stylistic lead taken from Syrian legend Omar Souleyman on Damascus and from the magnificent Asha Bhosle on The Shadowy Light.

“The challenge we set ourselves was to make an album about death that made people feel less afraid of death”, Albarn has explained. A glance at the artist’s expansive catalogue is enough to remind us that he has never been shy of taking on a challenge. And producing The Mountain, a record which offers a warm welcome to our fear of the unknown, may be the Gorillaz’s most remarkable achievement to date.

★★★★★

by Sylvia Unerman

The Mountain Review by Rolling Stone UK

Death has rarely sounded so joyful.

“It was all like, ‘This is fucking weird, there’s a reason why we’re here,’” Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett explained last year to Rolling Stone UK of his and Damon Albarn’s time in India whilst working through the grief of losing both their fathers and Hewlett’s mother-in-law. “Visually, if you’re an artist and you go to India and it doesn’t blow your mind, then you must be blind, you know? Everything is insane and rich and colourful and mad and tragic and beautiful.”

True to the illustrator’s word, the 15-track album is an expansive sonic and visual odyssey which sends their band of animated misfits out to navigate life, death and transition in the “gloriously technicolour” country. The comfort Hewlett and Albarn each found in the positive attitudes towards death in Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, plays out in a celebratory optimism heard through the album and in its sun-soaked accompanying artwork.

The soaring instrumental title track sets a contemplative tone and introduces the traditional Indian instrumentation which weaves its way throughout its stonking 15 tracks. Award-winning Sitarist, Anoushka Shankar, niece of sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, is one of many Indian musicians Albarn worked with and a recurring collaborator throughout the album. Something of a full circle moment for the musician who admits that he probably listened to Shankar before he listened to The Beatles, having been a favourite of his late fathers. As the track fades out, echoes of “The Mountain” from late acting great Dennis Hopper’s 2005 Gorillaz cameo sends listeners on their way.

Hopper’s vocals foreshadow the importance of Gorillaz as a multigenerational prospect to their ninth album. Featuring artists from the likes of Paul Simonon, Johnny Marr and Jalen Ngonda to Ajay Prasanna, Gruff Rhys and Omar Souleyman, it was also “important to include all the people who died that we’ve known,” explains Albarn. As such, voices of departed collaborators from previous sessions have been woven into the narrative, including Bobby Womack, David Jolicoeur and Tony Allen. “I wanted to bring them into the conversation so that the record carries everybody and the whole history of the band,” he continues. It’s almost like they’re “talking from the other side,” Hewlett adds.

But the album isn’t just about navigating death, according to the pair, with underlying conversations centring around what is happening in the world more generally today. Lead single ‘The Happy Dictator’ – featuring art-pop duo, Sparks – is a “staring the beast in the face” example of this, as Albarn explained. The festival-ready singalong is a highlight of the album and a prime example of Albarn’s knack for balancing joy and satire with themes of darker origins, and, more generally, of Gorillaz ability to make saying something more palatable to a wider audience.

Momentum feels somewhat lost in the saccharine ‘Orange County’ featuring Bizarrap and Kara Jackson. Whilst successfully pairing heavy emotional themes with an airiness, the middling track takes on the energy of a drunk ex-boyfriend leaving midnight voice notes. “The hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love,” Albarn sings in earnest, punctuated with the peppy whistle of a village postman. It’s welcomingly followed up with the moreish cynicism of ‘The God of Lying’. Laden with doubt and existentialism, IDLES’ Joe Talbot’s distinctive drawl asks ‘Who am I?’ as a captivating beat begins. This tone is continued in ‘Delirium’ as the sardonic salvo of the uncompromising late visionary, Mark E Smith, emerges at the crescendo with a sinister laugh.

True to form, Albarn has worked with a number of rappers for their ninth offering, including The Roots MC, Black Thought, who brings some welcome energy to ‘The Empty Dream Machine’, whilst a jewel of the album (or the peak, so to speak) exists in the form of the sprawling 7-minute ‘The Manifesto’ featuring Argentine rapper, Trueno. A cinematic reveal of a powerful verse from D12 rap legend, Proof – likely taken from their 2001 session recording ‘911’ – is a delicious nod to the band’s early beginnings and a perfect example of Albarn’s ability to effortlessly bring together artists from differing decades, genres and backgrounds, through emotional, intimate connection and collaboration.

Final track, ‘The Sad God’, as the title suggests, is a mournful lament on mortality, grief and the state of the world: “I gave you atoms / you built a bomb,” Albarn croons. It’s not the rousing, overindulgent ending you’d expect from a 15-track album, but perhaps the power lies in the quiet weariness that comes from its long, pensive journey, which plays out with wistful instrumental contributions from Shankar and Prasanna.

Whilst at times meandering, The Mountain is a contemplative and richly textured landscape with moments of greatness. It might not be the sound of Gorillaz albums passed, but it is a successful reconnection between the pair and a triumph in their shared, almost pathological pursuit to move forwards with fresh ideas and to, ultimately, create an album which “makes death cool”.

★★★★

By Sophie Porter 

The Mountain Review by Cult Following

Continuing on with the formula that works best for Gorillaz, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett piece together their most impressive collaboration since Plastic Beach. Not the highest bar, but a bar all the same. It blows out the experimental works of The Fall and the redundant collaborative fodder of Cracker Island and Song Machine: Volume One. The animated group, whose reliance on the featured artist tag and Albarn’s interest in tinkering with whatever instrument is nearest to hand, has finally come good again, as good as it was on Demon Days and the self-titled debut. Nostalgia is not the reason for favourable comparison, but it does linger on the mind when ex-Gorillaz collaborators who are no longer with us appear on The Mountain. Dennis Hopper and Mark E. Smith are nice names to see on an album, and it’s wonderful, too, that Albarn and Hewlett found a suitable spot for those leftover tapes. The Mountain comes together in that perfect storm atmosphere so necessary to the Gorillaz fundamentals.  

Take the opening, title track, for instance. It’s a culmination not just of circumstantial influences on the pair during their time in India, but a process which many listeners at home may find comfort in. Grief expands; a fundamental shift is needed to counter it. In the case of Gorillaz, it means adapting that loss of closeness to the touching experience of travel, the satisfaction of new views and serenity in the face of devastating loss. That much is fodder for any artist, but moulding it as Gorillaz do here, that is quite a spectacle. The Mountain does not cast out the consistencies the Albarn and Hewlett project has built over the decades; if anything, it manages to solidify that tone and style with new instrumental thrills. The Moon Cave is a delight, nothing less. Much of The Mountain is built on a delicate plot, with Sparks-featuring The Happy Dictator highlighting this most of all. A mock propaganda, the world of fiction Albarn sings of giving him the opportunity to be the glint in the eye of listeners seeking guidance from someone whose words can be manipulated into new meaning.  

Such is the point of all these featured artists, it’s a wild new experience at every turn, but the story is threaded well by Albarn and Hewlett. The Mountain has a simple core to it. Take the experiences of recent memory and spin it into little fables that link together; it’s the nuance and detail that bring it up to this tremendous standard. Albarn seems keen to take risks here, as he did with The Ballad of Darren, with some of the most emotionally focused and honed work Blur had offered. The same comes of The Mountain, with songs like The Hardest Thing and Orange County fitting together incredibly. Tearjerkers that earn their heartbreaking impact on a listener. Incredible performances from the likes of Bizarrap, Black Thought, and Paul Simonon are not just an impressive ensemble where Albarn can show off his musical interconnectivity, but his understanding of genres beyond his own work. He doesn’t get enough credit for that, and yet displays his genuine love for fresh ideas with Gorillaz consistently.  

Songs like The Empty Dream Machine and The Plastic Guru are crucial examples of that emotional concept which guides The Mountain. The Empty Dream Machine may be one of Albarn’s very best songs, a vulnerable shock which comes out of the blue. But the uncomfortable truth of Gorillaz comes to life once more on The Mountain – the outfit works best with Albarn on lead vocal duties. There’s nice breaks from his work, but he’s capable of capturing an emotional volatility when backed by a wide range of musicians, rather than delegating to them. But such is the point of Gorillaz, an experience which is more and more feeling like a collective than a carefully protected project. Albarn is keen to curate, and The Mountain is the most successful example of that for him to date. From posthumous appearances which feel like worthy inclusions to the sharp writing style Albarn has brought to this round of Gorillaz songs, it’s hard to feel like The Mountain is anything but a borderline masterstroke. The likes of Delerium and Damascus reinvent what the collective stands for. How well timed it is for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the group to bring about one of its best albums. 

★★★★★

By

Ewan Gleadow

The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God

The official trailer for the short film "The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God" has just been released. 

You can watch it by clicking here.

Promo photo 1 | Promo photo 2

The Mountain Review by Still Listening Magazine

Gorillaz confront loss and transcendence head-on, turning personal grief into a kaleidoscopic meditation on life, death, and renewal.

Coming off the pop-radio sounds and half-baked thematic ideas explored in 2023’s Cracker Island, Gorillaz latest release is a breath of fresh air into a concept that was seemingly on the cusp of growing stagnant. Exploring the dichotomy between life and death and the journey in between, The Mountain is a beguiling, kaleidoscopic collection of contemplative celestial tunes, sticky hooks, and vocoded vulnerability that offers a cathartic insight into the way that grief reinvents us. 

An album born out of shared personal tragedy and directly informed by the existential challenges that accompany the human predicament, The Mountain is sonically as ambitious as the subject matter it attempts to tackle. Blending Indian sounds and stylings with Damon Albarn’s signature melancholic melange and visually immersed in Jamie Hewlett’s frenetically detailed and ornately lush hand-drawn artwork, the record offers a vulnerable insight into themes of life and loss following the pair’s turn toward Hinduism, reincarnation, and spirituality in the wake of their fathers’ deaths only days apart in March 2023. 

The 15-track record sees Gorillaz return to their culturally probative roots, and if there’s one thing Gorillaz knows how to do, it’s an album opener. From the ominous foreboding instrumentals of Demon Days ‘Intro’ to the orchestral strings overlaying brief sounds of the sea on Plastic Beach, Gorillaz once again recapture their tact for worldbuilding and sonic storytelling on their ninth studio album, where the Indian-influenced instrumentals and symphonic strings of the record’s titular opening track aurally immerse the listener into the thematically rich and gloriously technicolor world of The Mountain. 

Inspired and “truly in alignment” by their time and spiritual reckoning together in India, Gorillaz’ latest release is musically and thematically cohesive in a manner unseen from the virtual band since 2010’s Plastic Beach. While at first glance, the album’s expansive roster of collaborators might appear daunting, The Mountain abandons the traits that made Humanz or Song Machine feel discombobulated and disjointed, reigning in the band’s collaborative ethos in a manner that works to transform the disparate cross-cultural sounds and five different languages [Arabic, English, Hindu, Spanish, Yoruba] into an emotionally transcendent listening experience grounded by Albarn’s tact for mournful melancholic vocal performance. This is on full display on tracks like the ‘The Moon Cave’ and ‘The Empty Dream Machine,’ where shimmery synth funk grooves are seamlessly suffused with Indian instrumentals and luminaries such as legendary disco queen Asha Puthil and masterful sitarist Anoushka Shankar with the thoughtful rhymes and wordplay of American rapper Black Thought as Albarn lyrically ruminates on the nature of life and loss. 

‘The Sweet Prince,’ an achingly beautiful and tenderly ethereal elegy to his late father, stands out as one of the most emotionally poignant songs on the record as Albarn’s vocoded vocals swoon: “The sword you hold in your head/Well its mighty blow will set you on your patterned path into the next life.” ‘Delirium,’ featuring the late Mark E. Smith, is an immediate stand out from the rest of the tracklist. An 80s-esque dance-pop track with bright synths, operatic vocals, and revving bass topped with the distinctively sardonic vocal stylings of Smith banging out inchoate instructions that evoke the memory of Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones; the song feels akin to The Mountain’s version of ‘DARE’ imbued with the playful psych-pop of The Now Now. The opening instrumentals and intermittent sampling of distorted vocals on ‘The Plastic Guru’ too recall the arrangements of the underappreciated record, The Fall, with Albarn’s distinctly bleary vocals weaving around shiny sitar strings and Johnny Marr’s springy guitar before unraveling into a barrage of India’s urban noise as he contemplates: “We believe what we choose/Is that not the truth?” Capturing the disorientation of the human predicament, the album closes on ‘The Sad God,’ a minor-key track with snoozy charm and spacey harmonies that lyrically ruminates on the failure of mankind from the perspective of an unnamed deity. A summation of the thematic underpinnings of the record as a whole, Albarn abstractly reprimands humanity’s corruption of nature and abandonment of community in favour of individualistic greed, deflatedly lilting over Prasanna’s meditative flute: “I gave you atoms, you built a bomb/Now there is nothing and I have gone/No more mountains no more song/No more prayers sent up into space/Only screens left to see your face.”

The Mountain is a glorious return to form for the virtual band, a natural progression from the more culturally cutting and poignant symbolic stylings of Demon Days and Plastic Beach that reanimates the anarchic animated four-piece whose success, as this album proves, emanates from the creative alignment and unity of its co-creators more than anything else. Arguably more of a globalist record despite its overtly Indian influences, Gorillaz latest release is a triumphant mingling of disparate cross-cultural sounds and stylings galvanized by Albarn’s pacifist roots and humanist perspective. Grappling with questions surrounding life, death, and the great cloud of unknowing, The Mountain captures the transcendent power of music in the face of tragedy, searching for meaning in hopelessness as a way to hold on to faith in existence.

SCORE: 85 of 100

Written By Grace Dillon - Still Listening Magazine

KROQ Interview

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were live today on KROQ in Los Angeles. They talked about House of Kong and the new album The Mountain.

The interview has just been added to our Gigography section. You can check it out by clicking here.

The Mountain Review by Spin

"Gorillaz Honor Departed Collaborators On ‘The Mountain"

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the humans behind virtual group Gorillaz, don’t view death as the end, but as an excuse for a hell of a wake. Never ones for a morbid affair, they celebrate numerous collaborators on The Mountain (Kong) who have since passed on, including the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, De La Soul’s Dave ‘Trugoy’ Jolicoeur, soul legend Bobby Womack and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen. The result is a noble send-off, proving that the finality of death is no match for the transcendence of art.

Albarn and Hewlett, joined by producers James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, percussionist Remi Kabaka Jr. and Argentine EDM DJ Bizarrap, recorded the album all over the world, making for their most cosmopolitan affair yet, and mostly for the better. While unexpected artistic pairings have become less novel in their quarter century since 2001’s Gorillaz broke down genre lines, Albarn still has a flair for the unexpected. “The Empty Dream Machine” brings together the Roots’ Black Thought, the Smiths’ Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar for a reverie giving voice to a grief that defies words, and Jolicoeur and Womack remind us to enjoy it all while we still can on “The Moon Cave”.

Albarn was never quite as cynical as he presented himself on Blur’s ’90s state-of-the-nation missive Modern Life Is Rubbish, but he’s gotten downright utopian as he nears 60, showing both the world and himself that artists can bridge cultural gaps in ways politicians will never grasp. Here, they include enlisting Kara Jackson to plead “I’m not your enemy” on the whistle-laden “Orange County.” Sometimes his good intentions and good taste can get the better of him: the aggressively pleasant “The Sweet Prince” could be mistaken for something off a compilation you might buy from Starbucks or, egad, late-period Coldplay.

But whenever the party gets too polite, Gorillaz drop an unruly banger like the kaleidoscopic “Damascus” featuring frequent running mates Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def), reminding us that everyone’s always welcome on the dance floor.

Michael Tedder by SPIN

The Mountain by Public (France)

The band’s ninth creation was originally set for release in March, but given the scale of its anticipated success, Gorillaz decided to move the date forward slightly. That says a lot about the level of pressure surrounding the project. This was no time to step back — especially since it marks the first album the musicians have produced under their own record label.

So they thought big, inviting — without distinction — both living artists and late icons through carefully curated archival fragments gathered from here and there. The result: The Mountain stands apart from anything they had previously offered. Its fifteen tracks are at once eclectic and captivating.

A gem.

The Mountain by MacLife (Denmark)

Almost exactly three years after their last studio album, Gorillaz return with “The Mountain” — and they do so with a surprising sense of serenity. What was once conceived as a playful side project by Damon Albarn, a virtual space existing alongside Blur, has long since evolved into one of contemporary pop’s most consistent and versatile collectives. The Mountain embodies that evolution: less joke, less masquerade, more stance and conviction.

Musically, the album feels more focused than many of its predecessors. Electronic structures blend with organic textures; hip-hop rhythms intertwine with fragile melodies. Here, Gorillaz no longer sound like a project constantly trying to reinvent itself, but rather one that knows exactly what it is capable of. The guest vocals appear and integrate seamlessly without displacing the creative core — Albarn’s signature remains clearly perceptible throughout.

Thematically, The Mountain revolves around distance and perspective: the need to disconnect from the constant noise of the present in order to regain direction. The mountain of the album’s title functions less as a destination than as a process — a slow ascent in which the journey matters more than the summit.

Mac Life Magazine

The Mountain review by Musikexpress (Germany)

"Damon Albarn’s mountain grooves with bold pop designs that are fluent in global beats."

The Mountain stands in India. Here, on the banks of the Ganges, Albarn scattered his father’s ashes. Here, too, Jamie Hewlett was staying when his mother-in-law suffered a stroke from which she would not recover. Yet the mountain rises above all in a land beyond geographical realities. On their ninth album, Gorillaz embark on a journey that leads from “Moon Cave” to “Orange County,” from “Damascus” to “Casablanca.”

Anoushka Shankar and Bollywood icon Asha Bhosle lounge in the tour bus seats alongside Paul Simonon, Johnny Marr, and Idles. The sound does not have an Indian foundation in any strict sense. Rather, it follows an idea of global beats that leaves Western pop hegemonies behind—yet remains so artfully constructed that any trace of ethno-kitsch is avoided.

The result is a spectacle in which operetta-like flourishes (“The Happy Dictator,” with Sparks) stand alongside explosive moments (“The Manifesto”), while still making room for melancholy (“The Empty Dream Machine”).

At the same time, the comic supergroup bows on this album to several who are no longer alive. Proof can be heard, as can Tony Allen and Bobby Womack. And what luck that during the Plastic Beach sessions 16 years ago, Albarn apparently drew more out of Mark E. Smith than was needed: the barked-out “Delirium” pushes this otherwise impeccably crafted album at least a little toward anarchy.

“The hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love,” it says in “Orange County.” It’s true.

★★★★★ 

The Mountain review by MOJO (UK)

"Amorphouse troupe's ninth involves epic adventure, both real and imagined."

The 15-track, double album-length The Mountain is a product of personal grief, Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett both having lost their fathers within days of one another (the former travelling to the Ganges to scatter his dad's ashes). 

This heavy air of mortality is spun out into an album that is elegiac but ultimately celebratory; part-recorded at various locations in India and involving the sitar contributions of Anoushka Shankar and the 92-year-old singing legend Asha Bhosle on The Shadowy Light. Fittingly, it also includes off-cut recordings of now-departed Gorillaz contributors Tony Allen, Dennis Hopper and Bobby Womack, while Casablanca effectively melds The Clash and The Smiths as Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr join forces. 

The Empty Dream Machine and Delirium both feature achingly

melancholic melodies from Albarn, juxtaposed in the latter with the forever excellent ranting of Mark E Smith.

The result is Gorillaz' most ambitious (and moving) record to date.

★★★★

The Mountain review by Rumore Magazine (Italy)

Gorillaz in 2026?

“A glorious Trojan horse that has taken me to places I wouldn’t otherwise have reached,” according to Damon Albarn. The numbers tell part of the story too: five guests appeared on the 2001 debut, while The Mountain reaches a total of 23, with languages expanding from English to Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, and Yoruba. Almost as if—in an era of AI-generated music—our trusted virtual band had decided to show up in the flesh, consciously or not.

And they do so on a record where mortality and spirituality form the emotional core, with the band’s fictional narrative sending them to India after a sudden escape. The same country where Albarn scattered his father’s ashes in the Ganges, as a new beginning. A personal loss that intertwines with a two-part farewell to Tony Allen, opened by “The Hardest Thing” and followed by “Orange County,” a restrained ballad and emotional centerpiece of the album, where Albarn duets with Kara Jackson, conceding that “the hardest thing is saying goodbye to the ones you love.”

Mortality is made tangible, especially as several guest voices are no longer with us—from Bobby Womack and Dave Jolicoeur of De La Soul (together in the pop micro-symphony “The Moon Cave”) to Mark E. Smith, who, by brilliantly being himself, delivers the most bittersweet moment of the set in “Delirium.”

The album flashes across a wide spectrum of influences: Indian sounds (both classical and Bollywood-inspired—see the unusual pairing of Gruff Rhys and Asha Bhosle, an icon of the genre), reggaeton and hip hop, all the way to the Middle Eastern stylings of Omar Souleyman. There’s also the band’s signature pop craftsmanship, supported by figures such as Johnny Marr—even paired with Paul Simonon on “Casablanca”—alongside Idles (bringing brooding trip hop textures to “The God Of Lying”) and Sparks in the sharply angled, Trump-tinted back-and-forth of “The Happy Dictator.”

That such a monolith remains, in its own way, cohesive says a great deal about the artistic maturity Albarn has reached.

 79/100

Gorillaz Interview by Vogue India

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett on the afterlife, AI and awakening to India.

Twenty-five years since releasing their first album and taking their virtual band all over the world, Gorillaz co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have finally dropped anchor in India. Now, their souls are permanently moored.

Vogue India: The Mountain is the title of the album as well as the first song on it. Were you inspired by an actual mountain or a metaphorical one?

Damon Albarn: On our first trip to India, we went to Fort Amer in Jaipur and it was a magical moment for us. The music emanated from there, so we named the album The Mountain.  But it’s also a mountain we visited in Western China years ago, which  was so high that you couldn’t even light a match at the top.

Jamie Hewlett: There was a temple on top with Buddhist monks. You could stand at the  edge and look down at the clouds. I was trying to light a cigarette but  it just wouldn’t spark.

Damon Albarn: And then, during the descent, I got lost.

Jamie Hewlett: Damon got lost in 500, no, 5,000 square miles of forest. And it was getting dark.

Damon Albarn: I ended up on a road and got picked up by a guy on a scooter. He then  took me up another mountain, stopped with me on the back and got into a  domestic row on the phone for half an hour. At which point, I thought I  may never actually return to civilisation. I was convinced it was the  end. Yeah, we’ve had some lovely experiences on mountains so it was easy  for us to rally around that image.

Vogue India: What did India feel like for  you? I ask this because many come here in search of the ‘meaning of  life’ and don’t always find it. Did you feel like you found it?

Jamie Hewlett: I didn’t go looking for it and certainly didn’t find it in the ways it  was presented to us or the average tourist visiting India. We didn’t  fall for any ‘gurus’, although we would’ve loved to meet a real sadhu. I  know the ones outside our hotel in Varanasi weren’t real because  they’d… [Hewlett points to the sky, then extends an open palm as if  asking for money.] Instead, I found meaning in some of the people we  travelled with who put up with us for weeks on end and were so generous  with their time.

Damon Albarn: One of our most  profound experiences was eating dal and chapati (in a langar) with  thousands of people at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Russel: India reminds you that power isn’t just strength; it’s thought, patience and madness all at once.

Vogue India: As ever, a man of few words,  Russel. Say, 2-D, didn’t you go to a silent retreat in the Himalayas 10  years ago to prepare for a reconciliation with Murdoc? Were you  successful?

2-D: I’m good at forgiving and  especially forgetting because of all my concussions over the years. What  was the question again? Oh yeah, Murdoc. We’ve become a lot closer on  this trip to Jaipur. He forgot his sleeping bag so we had to share mine.

Vogue India: I’m happy for you both. Damon, Jamie, are there any specific sights from your time in India that are seared into your brain?

Jamie Hewlett: My first time in Jaipur, I was riding around in a tuk-tuk and got stuck  in a traffic jam with every kind of vehicle imaginable, alongside  goats, cows and children for company. At some point, a massive foot came  down next to my tuk-tuk, and I looked up and saw an elephant beside me.  It was being ridden from one side of the city to an elephant reserve on  the other side. It nudged in front of our tuk-tuk and I thought to  myself, “Wow, I’ve just been overtaken by an elephant.” That kind of  blew my mind.

Damon Albarn: It would be cool to do some kind of cultural exchange between our cows.

Jamie Hewlett: Damon is fascinated by the freedom cows enjoy in India. If they’re in the street, you drive around them, right?

Vogue India: You cannot disturb a cow in India.

Damon Albarn: I live in the English countryside and have to encounter cows all the  time. They could really take a leaf out of your cows’ book.

Jamie Hewlett: They have as much right to be here as us. So just drive around the cow.  It makes complete sense. If there were a cow on Oxford Street, all of  London would shut down. I love that wonderful chaos. The mathematics of  driving around India is also fascinating. A friend was driving me around  Jaipur and I was so impressed that no one was crashing into each other.  He said, “I can drive in Jaipur without even thinking, but if I go to  Mumbai, I can’t do it.” There’s a different rhythm to the driving in  each city, right? You kind of understand where you’re all going to turn  and nobody crashes?

Vogue India: We do crash; we just get right back up and continue on our way.

Jamie Hewlett: That’s one of the wonderful mysteries I’d like to keep a mystery. So don’t tell me you crash. Tell me you never crash.

Vogue India: We never crash, Jamie. Damon, I heard the faint strain of a roadside  band playing in the background at the end of ‘The Plastic Guru’. Did you  find India sonically intense?

Damon Albarn: Yes.  I loved the early morning song in some of the Hindu temples when the  curtain comes up for the first time. The Sufi devotional singing on  Fridays in Old Delhi was also extraordinary. I’ve become a devotee of  the conch. I bought one and now use it in my own practice.

Jamie Hewlett: Visually, too, there’s something interesting going on in every square  metre of India. That’s why we took our photographer with us—drawing a  single backdrop would probably take me a year. I wanted to photograph  everything and then put the­ characters into those scenes. It would have  been impossible to­ replicate what was happening on the streets of  Jaipur or Delhi through a sketch because it’s thousands of years of  cultural evidence. I love it. I’m not finished with India. I need more.

Vogue India: You’ve collaborated with some of India’s best musical talent on The Mountain. In the song ‘The Shadowy Light’, Asha Bhosle sings about ‘the river of life’. What do you think she means?

Asha Bhosle: I’ll take that one, thank you. In one part of ‘The Shadowy Light’, I  sing, “Chal mere raahi, gehra hain paani, mujhe jaana hain uss paar.”  I’m telling the boatman to ferry me across the river, which is my life’s  journey: my birth, my relationships, my dedication to music, my  achievements, my duties as a mother, daughter, sister, wife and Indian.  The boatman is a metaphor for my music, which has guided me across this  river of life. When I get to the other side, my journey will be complete  and I will attain moksha. If you listen carefully, you will be able to  discern thousands of sounds floating around us. I shall bec­ome one of  them. This freedom to become one with nature is what awaits me on the  other side of the river.

Murdoc: I’d love to add my two cents here but due to  an ongoing legal battle with Him Downstairs, I’m not at liberty to  discuss my soul with any third party. Letting go is part of life though,  isn’t it? Chuck it in the stream and watch it drift away. Very healing.

Vogue India: A special appearance by Murdoc—what a treat. Damon, Jamie, now that  you’ve finally wrapped up the album, how are you kicking back?

Damon Albarn: I find ways to fill my time while I wait for him to finish doing his part. I’m really quick and he’s really slow.

Jamie Hewlett: No, it’s just that what I do takes time. But the idea of ‘kicking back’  from what we do seems pointless because what we do is so much fun. It’s  not like, “I can’t wait for the weekend, I hate my job.” No, I love my  job. The holiday would be going to India and coming back with ideas to  turn into work.

Vogue India: But what  happens when your work—the kind of unexpected collaborations and art  that only humans could once think of—is generated by AI? Where do we go  from here?

Jamie Hewlett: Challenge it.

Damon Albarn: If AI is a self-generating facsimile of our current reality, then we  have to prove that we still reign supreme when it comes to imagination.  If we can’t keep up, it deserves to inherit what we’ve built. We’ve just  got to relearn the joy of ritual and hard work.

Jamie Hewlett: Technology is going to make us lazier and lazier. It’s going to get to a point where we become like the humans in Wall-E who are too fat to get out of their floaty chairs and just press  buttons with the one finger that still works. That’s the future.

Vogue India: That’s a bleak visual. It’s been 25 years since you released your debut  single ‘Clint Eastwood’. Congratulations on your silver jubilee of  working together. How different is it now?

Damon Albarn: Far fewer hangovers. Apart from that, pretty similar.

Jamie Hewlett: I love Damon’s music. He gives me music to put visuals to. How lucky can I be?

Vogue India: Damon, do you want to give Jamie a compliment?

Damon Albarn: [Dryly] Knowing Jamie has been one of the great joys of my life.

Vogue India: Okay, level with me. Is an India tour on the cards?

Damon Albarn: If we don’t play in India, what’s the point of this album?

Asha Puthli: I’m so excited for them to finally  perform in India because I felt a strong sense of spiritual kinship with  Damon when we were recording ‘The Moon Cave’. It was like a great  feeling of comfort that comes from a past-life familial connection, like  we belong to the same creative tribe. Throughout the process, there was  a natural sync with what Damon and Jamie were creating with The Mountain, an experience that is certainly a peak in my life, pun intended.

Vogue India: How wonderful, Asha. Damon, Jamie, has your idea of what happens after death changed since making The Mountain?

Damon Albarn: It’s becoming clearer to me that life after death has something to do with quantum physics.

Jamie Hewlett: Yeah, like AI is a modern form of magic, quantum physics is a modern  form of religion. And you can also find ideas of what happens after  death in India—that knowledge has existed for over 2,000 years. If you  care enough to have a look.

Damon Albarn: The past is so much smarter than the future.

Jamie Hewlett: The way we’re going, that might be true. To answer your question, I  don’t know what happens after death, but I’m less bothered by it now.

Damon Albarn: We’re definitely closer to it.

Noodle: We each have our own hell. Mine was pretty  dark; you don’t want to go there. I’ve learned that hell is never the  final stop—just a detour.

Vogue India: Thanks for that, Noodle.

Jamie Hewlett: I’m still ruminating on that one. But I’m not afraid of death anymore.

Damon Albarn: I think Jamie’s more afraid of losing his Vaseline lip balm than dying.  [Brandishes Jamie’s tub of Vaseline, which has been sitting slightly  off-screen the whole time.]

Jamie Hewlett:  [Trying to pry it out of Damon’s hand] Nothing worse than dry lips in  the afterlife. Damon, will you make sure I’m cremated with my lip balm?

Interview Sadaf Shaikh by Vogue India

NEW MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERE

The Band is sending out a special invitation to attend the premiere of their new video, which will be released on February 26 in selected cinemas around the world.

Invitations are being sent via email to randomly selected fans who will be part of this exclusive event.

Run and check your inbox… you might be one of the lucky guests! Or maybe not 👀

Good luck!

These are the officially confirmed venues so far.

• Europe

• US

• Mexico

• Brazil

• Argentina

• Australia

• UK

more soon..

Promo photo.

Gorillaz Take Over Alamo Drafthouse

Gorillaz Take Over Alamo Drafthouse With Free Movies, A One Night Only Exclusive Album Release Event, and Special Short Documentary Film.

The virtual group picks favorite films for Guest Selects and debuts a short documentary film for The Mountain album release.

When Gorillaz call, you hand them the keys to the cinema and hope Murdoc gives them back in one piece.

To celebrate the release of The Mountain on Feb. 27, the band is taking over Alamo Drafthouse with a full month of Guest Selects screenings, each programmed by a different member of the animated band. 

It all kicks off Thursday, Feb. 26, with an Alamo-exclusive event: Gorillaz Presents The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God, plus a short documentary film – an exclusive 20-minute special video presentation – followed by a screening of Wim Wenders’ PERFECT DAYS, as picked by 2D. Attendees of this one-night-only album release event will receive a limited-edition keepsake, available exclusively at this screening. - Promo photo

After that, every Thursday in March belongs to a different bandmate, with their movie picks playing on the big screen along with the exclusive The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God short documentary film.

On March 5, Russel brings Bob Fosse’s SWEET CHARITY to the big screen, a technicolor swirl of big feelings and iconic choreography. - Promo photo

On March 12, Murdoc selects BAD SANTA,  Terry Zwigoff’s deeply inappropriate holiday classic about a department  store Santa who drinks like a fish and steals like a raccoon. - Promo photo

Finally, on March 19, Noodle caps things off with BRITANNIA HOSPITAL,  Lindsay Anderson’s gloriously unhinged 1982 dystopian satire set inside  a crumbling NHS hospital and featuring, among other things, a  super-brain in a jar. - Promo photo

In short: new album, exclusive footage, four free movies, and the  rare opportunity to say you watched BAD SANTA because Murdoc told you  to. All screenings, including the album release event on Feb. 26, are free with the purchase of a fully refundable food and beverage voucher, redeemable at the shows.

Seating is limited so reserve your spot now:

FEB 26 

AUSTIN

• Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar - 7pm - from $13 - buy ticket here.

BOSTON

• Alamo Drafthouse Seaport - 7:15pm - from $12.19 - buy ticket here

CHICAGO

• Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville - 6:45pm - from $12.45 - buy ticket here

CORPUS CHRISTI - 7pm - from $12.37 - buy ticket here.

• Alamo Drafthouse Corpus Christi

DALLAS/FORT WORTH

• Alamo Drafthouse Cedars - 7pm - from $12:37 - Buy ticket here.

• Alamo Drafthouse Richardson - 7:30pm - from $12.19 - Buy ticket here.

DC AREA

• Alamo Drafthouse Crystal City - 7:30pm - from $12.19 - Buy ticket here.

DENVER

• Alamo Drafthouse Sloans Lake - 7:30pm - from $12.19 - Buy ticket here.

• Alamo Drafthouse Westminster - 7:30pm - from $12.19 - Buy ticket here.

LOS ANGELES

• Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Los Angeles - 7:00pm - Soldout

NYC AREA

• Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn - 7:15pm - From $12.19  - Buy ticket here.

• Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan - 7:15pm - From $12.19  - Buy ticket here.

• Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers - 7:00pm - from $12.19 - Buy ticket here.

OMAHA

• Alamo Drafthouse La Vista - 7:30pm - from $12.35 - Buy ticket here.

RALEIGH

• Alamo Drafthouse Raleigh - 7:00pm from $12.35 - Buy ticket Here.

SAN ANTONIO

• Alamo Drafthouse Park North - buy tickets here.

SF BAY AREA

• Alamo Drafthouse Mountain View - Buy ticket here. 

• Alamo Drafthouse New Mission - Buy ticket here. 

• Alamo Drafthouse Valley Fair - 7:00pm from $12.19 - Buy Ticket Here. 

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

• Alamo Drafthouse Naples - 7:30pm - from $12.32 - Buy ticket here.

TWIN CITIES

• Alamo Drafthouse Woodbury - 7:00pm - from $12.38 - Buy ticket here.

Wins Tickets by KROQ

The radio station KROQ is launching an exclusive contest for your chance to win tickets to the Hollywood Palladium on February 23. 

If you want to experience it live, here are all the rules so you can enter and not miss out. This is your opportunity to be there! 

February 17, 2026 at 5:00pm US/Pacific through February 20, 2026 at 6:00pm US/Pacific.

For the On Air Contest: Gorillaz, listen to KROQ on weekdays starting at  approximately 5:00 pm (PT) on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 and ending at  approximately 6:00pm (PT) on Friday, February 20, 2026 for the cue to  call. The correct caller at (800) 520-1067 (as announced by the on-air  personality prior to the cue to call) will, upon verification of  eligibility, receive the following prize: two (2) tickets to Gorillaz at  the Hollywood Palladium on February 23, 2026. (the “Prize(s)”). The  Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of the prize is $100.00, courtesy of Live  Nation. There will be up to four (4) winners. Otherwise, KROQ general  contest rules apply and are available by clicking HERE.

* The winner(s) and any guest(s), if applicable, must comply with any  and all COVID-19 vaccination, screening, testing, safety and related  requirements imposed or required by (if applicable) the Station, the  venue, event promoter, sponsors, travel providers, hotels, governmental  authorities or others in connection with the receipt, use, and  redemption of the prize. Refusal to comply with all applicable COVID-19  requirements will result in forfeiture of the prize and no replacement  or alternate prize will be provided. All cancellations are deemed beyond  the control of the Station and its sponsors. This includes, but is not  limited to, event cancellations due to any pandemic or epidemic  constituting a public health emergency, including those subject to  government mandated quarantines, travel restrictions, or stay-at-home  orders. The Station and/or its sponsors shall in no way be responsible  under any circumstances whatsoever for replacing, and/or for reimbursing  any winner(s) with any form of compensation for, any prize(s) or  portion(s) thereof forfeited due to the refusal of the winner(s) and/or  their guest(s) to comply with all applicable COVID-19 requirements  and/the cancellation of any event, nor will any alternate prize(s) be  provided.

Interview by Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone has just published an interview with Damon and Jamie. You can read the full interview here:

Why do you think this album turned out so cohesively?

Albarn: It’s because we spent more time [together]. Jamie, after Plastic Beach, changed his life quite dramatically and moved to France, and that was quite a cataclysm in our relationship at the time. But we managed to completely find each other again. And I suppose going to India was the pinnacle of that: Jamie and Damon, Part Two. Reconciliation and the renewing of the vows.

Hewlett: We found ourselves on a very similar page. Damon’s father passed away, and my father passed away 10 days later. We were like, “OK, the themes of this record are starting to present themselves to us quite clearly.”

Damon, you’d never been to India before, right?

Albarn: No. It’s interesting, being English, going  there. I mean, aside from all the colonial history, someone like me grew  up in a terraced house in East London next to an Indian family. It’s  very much part of being English, is Indian culture, whether it be Hindu,  Muslim, or Sikh. I definitely was listening to Ravi Shankar more than  the Beatles when I was a kid.

What was it like to be there while you were grieving? Did you find it inspiring?

Hewlett: Just visiting [the ancient city of] Varanasi was quite an experience, seeing the funeral pyres. Damon swam in the Ganges.

Albarn: You don’t forget that in a hurry. It’s a  beautiful thing, because you’re immediately immersed in thousands of  years of spiritual activity and ritual and sunrise and sunset. You just  sort of allow it to wash over you, and maybe some of it infuses and then  some of it haunts you.

When did you come up with the idea of including all these voices of people we’ve lost?

Albarn: In  the original piece of paper, the original Gorillaz Manifesto written in  1999 by Jamie and I when we were sharing a flat, the character of  Russel was able to bring forth the voices of dead musicians.

Hewlett: Great idea. It took 25 years to actually use it.

You recently performed the first three Gorillaz albums live in London. Did you enjoy looking back on those projects?

Albarn: I don’t get any pleasure out of looking back on anything.

Hewlett: We’re very much about what’s next. What’s next is exciting.

Albarn: I feel like if people start telling you how  great you were, there’s something terribly missing in your life. Do you  know what I mean?

Hewlett: Yeah. And if you’re living off something you did 25 years ago because you haven’t done anything new, then that’s a shame.

Did you learn anything new about those early Gorillaz projects when you performed them, though?

Albarn: They  didn’t have any lyrics! The songs on the first album, the lyrics that  they had were just weird. And even the weird stuff makes sense now. That  shows you how mad the world is now. “Hey, we’re going to have a  character who has dead people come out of his head, and the record’s not  going to mean anything.”

Hewlett: That’s not even a crazy idea these days. But 25 years ago, that was pretty crazy.

Albarn: I dressed up as a priest for Demon Days. I really enjoyed that.

Hewlett: He was supposed to be Father Merrin from The Exorcist. I thought that would be a good look for Damon.

Albarn: I loved it. I would do it every night, to be honest with you.

Speaking of cartoon bands, have either of you seen KPop Demon Hunters?

Hewlett: I am going to watch it. My oldest son keeps telling me, “You’ve got to watch it, Dad.” Even if he’s 30, he likes animation.

Albarn: I thought you had to have kids to watch that. I don’t think you can watch that on your own. It’s too weird.

But it’s funny, isn’t it? You guys had this out-there idea of a  cartoon band all those years ago, and now that’s the biggest thing in  the world.

Albarn: [Laughs dryly.] Between that and the fucking ABBA hologram show, there’s really nothing left of our ideas. All have been taken and monetized in an extreme way.

Hewlett: I think that the fact that we are an animated  band has helped just a little bit. Young people go, “What’s that? I  love that animation. Let me check it out.” Then they hear the music and  they go, “Oh, my God, I love it.” And then it brings a new audience.

And the characters never really age, do they? Noodle started as a kid and became an adult, but since then, they’re eternal.

Hewlett: Well, we don’t know what’s going to happen next. I’m working on something.

Albarn: They need to become cubist.

Hewlett: Oh, that would be great. Wow.

Albarn: Murdoc becomes a green rectangle [laughs].

What do you both think about the use of AI in art?

Hewlett: Well,  for me personally, I wouldn’t use it in my work. But at the same time,  AI, if you’re using it in the art world, is a tool. Just like when  Photoshop arrived on the scene. It’s what do you do with it really that  matters.

Albarn: I don’t know how to use it, so I don’t have that problem.

Hewlett: I’ve seen artists who use it really well. But  there’s a lot of people who know how to tap in a command into a  computer and get a picture out of it, and they consider themselves to be  artists, which is a little bit far-fetched for me.… Part of the reason  you fall in love with an artist’s work is because it’s their  work. It’s their vision, their story, and a computer’s just harvesting  the information from the entire world. So it’s not the same thing, is  it? You can’t fall in love with it. It’s not like looking at a Van Gogh  painting or a David Hockney and being reduced to tears.

Albarn: I think it’s too soon to say whether we can  fall in love with it. It’s like Mao, when he was asked about the French  Revolution, he said, “It’s too soon to tell.”

Damon, is it true that you don’t even own a phone?

Albarn: That’s right. It’s easy. You just lose it one day and don’t get another one.

What about streaming? Do you listen to music that way?

Albarn: I’ve never streamed anything in my life.

Looking at the bigger picture, you’ve both been eloquent voices  for cross-cultural understanding over the years. Do you think the world  is heading in the right direction these days?

Hewlett: We’ve been lucky that we’ve traveled a lot, so we’ve seen the world and  we’ve had the experience of other cultures, and we’ve benefited from it  hugely. You grow as a human being by accepting other people’s beliefs  and cultures…. I guess the answer is we’re a bit concerned, but trying  to be positive about it. Especially on this new album, the experience of  working with many cultures coming together to make a beautiful record —  it wouldn’t be as beautiful if it was just a couple of English guys  with their mates.

That’s always been an important part of Gorillaz, bringing together different points of view, hasn’t it?

Albarn: It’s the essence of it, really. I mean, for me, when I shifted worlds from Blur to Gorillaz, which was quite a dramatic gear change … that was  everything about it. It had to have that community, because we’re  obscured by the cartoons. The only way there could be a real sense of a  human interaction was with the people we work with.

All these years later, Blur can play huge shows in Europe, but Gorillaz is still much more known here in the U.S. How do you feel about that these days?

Albarn: We  did feel at Coachella, when we came over with Blur [in 2024], that  maybe it was a slight mismatch, us being at that festival. It’s kind of  the embodiment of social media now, isn’t it?

Hewlett: It’s the only festival where the phones aren’t pointed at the stage, but at the person holding the phone.

Do you think Blur will ever play the U.S. again? It’s been a  long time since the show you played at Madison Square Garden in 2015,  which was incredible.

Albarn: Something  like that’s more possible, yeah. The only problem with bloody playing  Madison Square Garden, and I’ve done it a few times, is that there’s all  these banners for flipping … what’s his name?

Billy Joel?

Albarn: Billy Joel. Any sense of achievement is just so deflated. I can’t bear it.

interview: Simon Vozick-Levinson by Rolling Stone

The Mountain Available in Bandcamp

the band has just launched an official Bandcamp account. You can place your order there now. 

The release is also available for download in 24-bit/44.1kHz quality.

You can also download in FLAC, ALAC (Apple Lossless), AAC, Ogg Vorbis, WAV and AIFF formats.

Bandcamp Link

You can also purchase it via:

Qobuz - clicking here.

iTunes - clicking here.

7digital UK - clicking here.

HD tracks - clicking here.

WIN TICKETS!

For those in Los Angeles and across the United States, you can enter for tickets through iHeartRadio by clicking here.

The Irish - Interview

We spoke to Albarn and Hewlett about where their latest collaboration has taken them...

What was the starting point for The Mountain?

Jamie: At the end of 2022, my wife was in India with her mother for a month. The day they were flying home, my mother‑in‑law had a stroke. So I flew out to Jaipur and spent about five or six weeks at the hospital every day.

That pretty traumatic experience actually ended up with me falling in love with Jaipur. So, when I came back, I said “We need to go to India and do something”.

At that point, we hadn’t really decided what the theme of the album was. It was just about being in India, working with Indian musicians and trying to absorb as much culture as possible.

And then we both lost our fathers within 10 days of each other. They had both been unwell for some time. So then a theme presented itself.

Damon: I took some of my dad’s ashes to the Ganges because my parents really gave me a lovely introduction into Indian culture and spirituality when I was a child.

We lived in a part of London which was very strongly Pakistani and Indian and Bangladeshi. My parents would play music like Ravi Shankar and even more traditional ragas and ensembles.

I honestly think that was the soundtrack of my early childhood more than The Beatles. I only really got into the Beatles when I met Graham [Coxon], weirdly.

Where did you go in India?

J: Mumbai, Jaipur, New Delhi, Varanasi and Rishikesh. We were moving a lot.

D: In New Delhi, I found this small sitar-maker’s shop - it turned out it was where George Harrison had first gone to get a sitar.

J: And the owner was still talking about it. You kind of have to get into a different rhythm when you’re in India, because it’s full-on. It’s a different pace and a different vibe. It’s really hot, and it’s really crazy and noisy, and you just kind of have to kind of sort of melt into it and become part of it.

There will be an elephant walking past you when you’re sitting in a tuk‑tuk, or there will be a cow that walks into a shop and looks around and walks out, or there’s a cow asleep in the road, and you say to somebody, “What about the cow?” and they say, “The cow has as much right to be here as us.” So we drive around the cow. And that’s just the way it is.

Was there a key moment when the music started to come into focus for you?

D: I suppose it started to really suddenly have some real emotional intelligence to it when we went to the Amber Fort. I recorded the one‑string violin player outside playing this Rajasthan folk tune.

In my hotel I played around with it, and I had the different chords, and the first version of the theme to [title track] The Mountain was formed.

Oddly, I played the tune to a well‑known Jaipur wedding band we were working with and they’d never heard it. I played it to loads of [Indian] musicians, and none of them have ever heard it. But this guy at the Amber Fort, it’s the only tune he’s playing. Maybe I’ve just changed it so much it’s not recognizable.

J: That experience with the wedding band was insane. It was in the pink city in Jaipur, which is the most insane place. It’s so busy. There’s so much going on, and we were on a little rooftop above a busy marketplace with gangs of monkeys roaming everywhere.

We were in a tiny room with 40 or so brass players, all dressed up in colourful costumes, and it was probably close to 40 degrees.

There was an electricity pylon across the street with sparks coming off it, and guys trying to fix it, and there was a tanker truck outside the window with a leak, so it really stank of petrol in this tiny room.

It was a really insane experience trying to get 60 people to learn a new tune while they’re all trying it themselves.

All with cows just walking through the chaos, just casually chillin’.

So you were stockpiling these sounds and the visuals to come up with song ideas?

D: I feel with Gorillaz, that’s what it’s always been. There’s a lot of our lives and the experiences we’ve had in what comes out the other end.

J: It is slightly autobiographical. But the point is that, when it works, it’s because we’ve gone off on some kind of crazy adventure.

And it’s always a shared adventure for Gorillaz, right?

D: Exactly. We’re a band, so we have to be like that. Any band has periods when they’re kind of not talking to each other. But for 25 years we’ve found ourselves really grateful for each other’s company.

J: I’m still interested in what he’s got to offer [musically], because it’s always really exciting. He gives me music to play with and I put visuals to music.

I mean, it’s a marriage made in heaven, right? Music and visuals - you can’t go wrong. And if you do go wrong, then you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s kind of a no‑brainer.

So you were stockpiling these sounds and the visuals to come up with song ideas?

D: I feel with Gorillaz, that’s what it’s always been. There’s a lot of our lives and the experiences we’ve had in what comes out the other end.

J: It is slightly autobiographical. But the point is that, when it works, it’s because we’ve gone off on some kind of crazy adventure.

And it’s always a shared adventure for Gorillaz, right?

D: Exactly. We’re a band, so we have to be like that. Any band has periods when they’re kind of not talking to each other. But for 25 years we’ve found ourselves really grateful for each other’s company.

J: I’m still interested in what he’s got to offer [musically], because it’s always really exciting. He gives me music to play with and I put visuals to music.

I mean, it’s a marriage made in heaven, right? Music and visuals - you can’t go wrong. And if you do go wrong, then you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s kind of a no‑brainer.

How does the visual side of Gorillaz come together?

J: Well, it’s just always conversations. There’s never a ‘Monday meeting’ – we just spend a lot of time together. And I’m still learning his process.

For instance, the ridiculous image in the centrefold for this album features everybody who appears on the album: that was Damon saying “I think we need this”.

I hadn’t thought about doing that, just drawing everybody.

D: It’s so nice though, because immediately you’ve got a story there.

Will there be a video element to this album?

D: Jamie is still finishing off an eight‑minute film with all hand‑drawn animations and painted backdrops.

J: Obviously we’ve used a lot of technology over the years with Gorillaz. But this time around, even before going to India, I sat and watched The Jungle Book, where everything’s hand‑done. There’s no computers and definitely no AI. It’s all human‑made.

I got very excited by that and proposed the idea of going back to the old ways to the animation company we’re working with. And they got so excited, because they all wanted to do that too.

D: I’m really glad we’re doing it, because it’s the true essence of what this band is - wonderful imagery and sort of slightly oddball music. That’s the vibe.

by David Roy from The Irish News.

032c Magazine - Interview

Face the Void, Kill Your Ego, End the “Celebrity Virus”.

Recently in a bookstore, I was heading to the science fiction section when a title screamed at me from the shelf: The Mountain Is You. I carried on and left with the novel I came for, but the phrase stayed with me. How am I the mountain? While researching the title, I discovered that Brianna Wiest’s 2020 book is about self-sabotage. “For centuries, the mountain has been used as a metaphor for the big challenges we face,” the description reads. “In the end, it is not the mountain we master, but ourselves.” Since then, the sight of any summit is a reminder of the psychological summits I am either already trekking, or will inevitably need to hike. A few weeks later, I received an email with the subject line: “GORILLAZ – New Album The Mountain Out February 27, 2026.”

Albarn and Hewlett made The Mountain shortly after the deaths of their fathers, and a period of mourning that coincided with an extended trip to India. True to form, the album hinges on collaboration with artists from India and far beyond, who are both living and dead. It departs from earlier releases in its narrative ambiguity—the idea being that The Mountain is not necessarily Albarn and Hewlett’s mountains, or any given listener’s.

On a recent video call, I was greeted not only by the duo but also by Albarn’s cat, Romeo Santos, who, after walking across the keyboard and filling the frame entirely with his body for a period, ended Albarn’s call prematurely.

The full interview Here:

Cassidy George: We’ve officially lost Damon [Albarn]. Did his cat end the call or did he?

Jamie Hewlett: You see, this [ethos] is something we picked up in India. If a cow is sleeping in the road in India, you’ll be told to simply drive around it, because the cow has just as much of a right to be there as you do. We’ve adopted the same idea here. I have my dog with me here, and Damon has his cat on his laptop.

CG: I think we could all benefit from adopting that––

JH: You do have to be careful with the monkeys. We’re both born in the Chinese year of the Monkey and love monkeys, but in India they’re like gang members. All they’re missing are leather jackets and flick knives. You quickly learn to never get into any kind of a dispute with a monkey, because they’ll come back 10 minutes later with another 20 monkeys and attack you!

Damon Albarn: I’m back! I don’t know what he did to the keyboard, but I couldn’t see or hear anyone for a while. Romeo plays music as well, and often interrupts sessions by walking across pianos and things.

CG: Damon, I was reading that you grew up with Indian classical music?

DA: I did, yeah! I grew up in a part of London where, especially in the 1970s, there was a huge Indian community. My next-door neighbors were Indian. My parents were into many aspects of Indian culture, but primarily the music. There was also an element of Indian spirituality that they found interesting. I remember my mum had all these 60s posters of hand-painted Indian gods. When you grow up with that, you don’t even see it as “other”—it’s just part of what you are.

When both of our fathers passed, it became something we had to carry and share. We didn’t go to India for that explicit reason, but it was amazing to have the opportunity to reconnect with something from my childhood in the present.

CG: Last year, both of my parents lost their parents, but also had their first grandchild. I think the cyclical notion of samsara is a far more optimistic understanding of life and death than a singular, linear experience with a dead-end.

DA: India is one of the best places on earth to reset your view of mortality and begin to understand the concept of the end not being the end, but the beginning of something. We were so lucky to go to Varanasi, which is one of the oldest inhabited places on Earth, on the banks of the River Ganges. They’ve been practicing cremation there for 5,000 years, every day. You’d assume it was a gruesome place, but it’s quite the opposite—it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, if not the most.

CG: The role of Indian classical music in pop is chronically overlooked. Even in attempting to educate myself more about it, I was ashamed to realize I hadn’t even heard of many common instruments, such as the tanpura or tabla.

DA: There’s so much music and so many people within the orbit of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, that this style of music can really exist in its own world. As a musician, you don’t have to ever step outside of the country really, even if you’re a huge artist there. [With Indian music] I’m really just a student. I’m learning all the time.

JH: Only working with people like you and never leaving your comfort zone doesn’t really create great results, does it? You just end up doing the same shit. India is the sort of place where you can’t help but be inspired whether you’re an artist, musician, or writer – it is infectious in that sense.

DA: It also doesn’t have the same celebrity virus that we all got from America. Their entire culture is built on different tenets. American culture has been a wonderful thing, but it’s also been very destructive. I do think it has reached a sort of hyperbolic level of self-congratulation. There’s an entire awards season. There’s Super Bowl season. Imagine the world if we didn’t have to go through these “seasons,” which are basically just inward-looking, mass celebrations of ego and Americana. Imagine if artists were just able to create work and didn’t have to be judged against each other all of the time—if they could all work together in a wonderful, socialist way. I’m sorry, but the whole idea of awarding people who are already lucky is just nonsense.

JH: And then they just keep awarding the lucky ones even more!

CG: They vote them into office.

JH: But remember, it’s the land of the “free!” [Laughs]

CG: A lot of what you just said seems to resonate with the founding philosophy of Gorillaz, which was ultimately about refusing to participate in an egomaniacal industry, right? You removed yourselves from the equation and inserted cartoon characters in your place. At the time, was this an act of antagonism or were you being futurists?

DA: We were definitely being futurists.

JH: Well, it was a little bit of both to begin with. At that point, some kind of antidote was required. It was the end of the 1990s, when the manufactured band was at its height. There were a ton of appalling bands and music around, and that’s what was dominating the charts in England and America. We were tired of it and wanted to challenge it, but also wanted to think of a future idea. It worked out for us because it was based on animated characters, and their world just gets bigger and bigger over time.

Here we are, 25 years later, and it’s still so relevant: cartoons, cosplay, computer games, avatars, the desire to escape into virtual worlds. [Cartoons] can’t compete with celebrities, but they do mean something to people.

DA: I regularly meet people who, first of all, have no idea what Blur is and don’t give a shit—why would they? And who, second of all, only know Gorillaz through the cartoon. They have no clue who I am, which is great! So, it has worked to a certain degree.

JH: After discovering the cartoon, a lot of young people become obsessed and dig really deep into the music. Then we have ten-year-olds discovering people like Bobby Womack, and all of the other people we’ve worked with.

DA: That aspect of it is so positive. That’s why, when the subject of death loomed so heavily over us, the idea of bringing people we worked with previously who have passed back into the fold seemed to make perfect sense.

JH: It’s an idea we’ve had since the very beginning of Gorillaz. When we wrote our one-page manifesto, we said that Russel would act as a conduit for spirits, but we never really took the idea further. Now felt like the perfect moment to go back through all of these recordings of sessions dating back as far as 25 years with people like Mark E. Smith and Dave [David Jolicoeur] from De La Soul. We discovered a complete freestyle rap from Proof that we had never considered using before. We had Lou Reed as well, but his estate didn’t want us to use his voice. We set one rule for ourselves: it had to be something that has never been heard.

CG: It’s crazy to think of how many genius outtakes and B-sides there are, just hidden on tapes and hard drives. I hope we have the opportunity to hear more things like this in the future.

JH: It depends how they do it. I mean, if you resurrect 2Pac as a hologram to make money—that’s a bit vulgar, isn’t it? There are two sides to that idea: one is about paying respect, and the other is about––

CG: Profit?

JH: Yeah, exactly.

CG: I’ve always been curious about the order of operations in your collaboration. Does Damon create music and then you build a story around it, or do you sometimes write the story and Damon uses that as a prompt for music? Or do things ever develop together simultaneously, like call and response?

JH: Damon usually gets started before I’ve even realized he’s started and says, “I’ve got five new songs, but they’re demos.” We listen to them together and that's often how it begins. A great thing is if he gives me a name for the album—so much great stuff comes from that. You did that with Plastic Beach, Demon Days, and The Mountain. Demon Days is one of my favorite titles of all our albums. The moment he said that, I knew we couldn’t go wrong. Demon Days still exists today, we’re still working on it.

DA: We did get a feeling at the beginning of the 2000s that the days of the demon would be our entire lifetime…

JH: After last weekend’s latest Epstein dump, we’re really in the realm of the demons, aren’t we?

CG: Jamie, I’ve always been a big fan of Tank Girl. When you all formed Gorillaz, was the world of comics suffering from some of the same things that the music industry was at the time? Were you equally disillusioned?

JH: I left that industry. There was an English comics industry that I was a part of, and then I felt that my only opportunities beyond that were to work for DC Comics. That didn’t excite me at all, so I had to find a new job. I didn’t want to do what other people were doing. I always see what’s missing or incorrect about—

DA: Jamie and I share an innate dissatisfaction with our own work. We’re always wanting to improve. We don’t [award ourselves] laurels.

JH: The job’s not done yet. There’s so much more to do, and it always must be better.

DA: Once you remove the aspect of ego—or once you try to destroy the ego—your priorities just change. In India, we had the opportunity to do yoga all over the place. One morning before sunrise in Varanasi, a guy gave a lesson on top of the hotel we were staying in. He told us to spend the hour attempting to empty our minds. When you meditate, the idea is that you’re cleansing your mind—cleaning things out and brushing them aside so that you arrive at complete emptiness. You can connect that idea to the idea of ridding yourself of ego—that sense of nothingness. Nothing is great.

JH: The void! It’s not an easy place to get to, but it’s definitely something to practice.

DA: There’s a lot of space in the void.

CG: Isn’t that everyone’s greatest fear though, facing the void?

JH: [Laughs.]

DA: Well, it’s the complete antithesis of social media. I’ve always boasted this, but it is true: I don’t have a telephone, and I haven’t had one for about ten years.

JH: Damon’s free from that world. I have to contact him through carrier pigeon.

DA: Otherwise known as email.

JH: That would be a great social media site actually: “The Void.” There’s nothing there, just the perfect sound at the perfect pitch, like a hum. “Come join us and spend some time in the void, but please don’t post anything because we don’t want to hear it!”

DA: Yeah, you can only join if you have nothing to say!

CG: The multimedia world you constructed through this impetus to kill the ego has also made your project translate so naturally into the demands of the new marketplace, which mandates that every musician attempt to world-build across various mediums and platforms. Nowadays, artists are being told they need to make a video game.

JH: I wonder how that goes down in the folk world.

CG: You certainly can’t shoot anyone.

JH: I think it would have to be agriculturally based. Here’s my video game—me milking cows.

DA: The emphasis on selling yourself is really too much nowadays. I don’t think I could cope with that if I were starting now. We’re lucky. We’re established enough at this point that we have a fanbase and we’re allowed to explore and do what we want to do. But to be a new artist today—and that’s basically what you have to do to be recognized? To sell yourself and be present all the time? All of this has been easy for us because we started off in a fake world. We were resolutely fake.

JH: And it wasn’t an easy sell back then. We’re talking about the end of the 90s—male guitar-band-led culture bullshit—and we come along with a fucking cartoon band? Everyone was like, “What’s this shit?”

DA: We played our entire first tour entirely behind screens. No one saw us, anywhere around the world. When we got to Japan, everyone wanted their money back.

JH: They needed to see celebrity faces on stage. We just had a screen for the visuals, and the band was behind the screen—some nights just in their underpants, because they didn’t need to dress up. There were definitely a few places where people were like, “What the fuck are we even paying for?”

CG: It’s so funny because now we think of the Asian market as being one of the earliest adopters of avatars and animated stars. I mean, K-pop is basically an expertly engineered simulation, and it’s the most popular genre in the world.

JH: KPop Demon Hunters is huge!

DA: I actually did a concert for robots in Tokyo a few years ago, in the Science and Technology Museum. I had just written my Everyday Robots album and they invited me to perform there. That was extraordinary—playing to an audience of androids.

JH: Did they enjoy the show?

DA: Oh yeah! One was winking at me! I swear.

CG: So back in the 90s, when everyone was thinking your cartoon band was shit, did you remain resolute in your belief that this was the future of music? Did you ever get discouraged?

JH: We took it to this guy Tony Wadsworth, a good friend of Damon’s.

DA: This was back in the day when EMI was EMI and they had a tea lady who pushed around a trolley, making people tea. We showed him one picture and one tune, and there on the spot—

JH: He said, “I love it. Go for it,” and signed it immediately. We were very lucky in that respect. That wasn’t actually the problem—it was more the press around the first album. Nobody wanted to talk to the characters. They all wanted to talk to Damon.

CG: This month you’re releasing an eight-minute short film that updates everyone on the status of the characters, who we last heard were running away to India with fake passports.

JH: There’s always a long debate about which songs will make it into the video, and we wanted to use the [animation] techniques they used back in the 60s when they made movies like The Jungle Book and One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which are hand-drawn with hand-painted backgrounds on glass and rostrum cameras. All of that old technology—well, is it technology? It’s handmade.

DA: It was cutting-edge technology back then. That’s the thing about “technology,” it all eventually becomes folk.

JH: The video features three songs from the album: “The Mountain,” “The Moon Cave,” and “The Sad God.” It attempts to tell the whole story of The Mountain through the eyes of the characters—or our version of the mountain. We tried to keep the narrative very open-ended, so that anyone can attach their own version of the mountain to it.

CG: Are you all familiar with this self-help book called The Mountain Is You? It’s about self-sabotage. Unfortunately, it became kind of a mantra running in the back of my head as I was listening to the album. I kept thinking: “The mountain is me, the mountain is me.”

DA: Well, life is a mountain, isn’t it? It’s not a flat road. No life is flat.

JH: The Mountain is yours.

Interview by Cassidy George 

Latest add to G-Store

The following products are now available for pre-order on the official store of Gorillaz. Available formats may vary depending on the official store:

US Store:

 The Mountain Heads T-Shirt - $40 - buy clicking here.

 Ravana Mountain Poster - $18 - buy clicking here

The Mountain Fan Pack (Vinyl + Poster) - $41.98  - buy clicking here.

Available in the rest of the world: 

The Mountain Heads Vinyl (t-shirt + vinyl book) - buy clicking here.

The Mountain Heads CD (t-shirt + CD) - buy clicking here.

The Mountain Heads T-Shirt - buy clicking here. 

Saturday Night Live

Gorillaz making its “SNL” debut. 

The virtual band led by Damon Albarn will perform songs from its upcoming album “The Mountain." on March 7, 2026. 

Tickets: They are free, but you must enter the ticket lottery by emailing Snltickets@nbcuni.com in August, or by lining up on 48th Street on the day of the show.

The Mountain Short Film

In a recent Rolling Stone India interview, Jamie revealed they are working on a short film running around 7 to 8 minutes. Jamie said: 

 “a condensed explanation about what is being sung about on this record, which is essentially the story of life. [....] The mountain is a metaphor for life. The bottom of the mountain is vast, with many green jungles and many paths, many opportunities, and the higher you climb, the more narrow it becomes. And if you make it to the top of the mountain, what is beyond that? And that is essentially reincarnation.”

The short film will be produced by acclaimed animation studio The Line Animation.

GORILLAZ COVER ROLLING STONES INDIA

Rolling Stone India interviewed Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett about the new album The Mountain.

“I don’t know anything that feels like this” in his distinct plaintiveness on “Casablanca,” Hewlett says

 “I’ve worked in Damascus, Syria and Algeria […] These journeys don’t start for no reason. There’s a lot of emotional energy that builds up before you embark on a journey like the one that The Mountain depicts,” Albarn says.

You can read the full interview by clicking here.

Promo photo

LAST ADD

The Mountain Listening parties - an exclusive opportunity to hear the new album before its official release. Experience it together at venues across the globe. 

Here the last list: 

US

Amoeba Berkeley, Berkeley

Amoeba Hollywood, Los Angeles

Sweat Records, Miami

Germany

Flight 13, Freiburg

Denmark

Sound Station, Frederiksberg

Colombia

La X FM, Bogotá

La Roma Records, Bogotá

Brazil

Kinoplex Sao Luiz, Rio de Janeriro

Chile

El Honesto Mike, Santiago

Peru

Studio 92 FM, Lima

Mexico

Match FM, Ciudad de Mexico

Match FM, Puebla

Match FM, Guadalajara

Match FM, Querétaro

Match FM, León

more Latam info: clicking here.

more Europe info: clicking here.

more US info: clicking here.

MORE NEWS!

We have a lot to share with you:

1. Gorillaz Expresso is celebrating 15 years of bringing you the latest news. You can check out the promo photo by clicking here.

2. There’s a new list for the Listening Party – LATAM. Click here to choose the location you can attend. We recommend contacting each indie store for more information.

3. Gorillaz will be performing the new single “Orange County” live on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One this Feb 14, 2026. We are still waiting for confirmation on the appearance of Argentine producer BZRP.

4. The radio version of “The Happy Dictator” will be available soon. Its registration code is QMFME2541966.

5. For our Peruvian friends: local radio station Studio 92 in Lima will host the Listening Party. You just need to register by clicking here. Please note that it will be available for only 20 lucky attendees.

15 years of...

Press Release

Thank You for 10,000 Followers on Instagram — Celebrating 15 Years of Gorillaz Expresso

Gorillaz Expresso proudly celebrates reaching 10,000 followers on Instagram — a milestone that wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support and passion of our community.

The project first began in 2011 with a simple goal: to create a dedicated space to share news, stories, and special content for Gorillaz fans. Years later, on October 29, 2015, we expanded our journey by launching our official Instagram account, opening up new ways to connect with fans around the world.

This month, we’re also celebrating 15 years of continuous activity and dedication — fifteen years of sharing updates, preserving memories, and building a space for fans across the globe.

Every like, comment, and message reminds us why we started — for the love of the music and the community that brings it to life.

Thank you for being part of this journey and for continuing to grow with us. This is only the beginning.

Gorillaz Expresso

Promo photo

INDIA - LISTENING PARTY

As promised, here’s the official Listening Party list for India — it’s finally here.

Ram's Musique, Bangalore

The Piano Man, Delhi

Bonobo, Goa

EXT, Hyderabad

Idoru, Mumbai

MEXICO LISTENING PARTY

We’ve confirmed more locations across Mexico.

99 Records, Mexico City

Vino & Vinyl, Oaxaca

La Perla Records, Mexico City

Mix Records, Mexico City

Promesa Coffee Shop, Cholula

La Roma Records Coyoacán, Mexico City

Sound Wave Vinyl Bar, Tijuana

El Club del Rock & Roll, Mexico City

Vinil Azul, Querétaro

LATIN AMERICA LISTENING PARTY

The wait’s over! Check out the Listening Party lineup for Latin America.

Argentina:

Niceto Bar, BA

Mexico:

Velvet Records, Guadalajara

99 Records, Guadalajara

Perfecto Miserable, Guadalajara

SHH, Mexico City

La Roma Records, Mexico City

Musiclab Records, Monterrey

Tetelán, Monterrey

Las Dunas Record Café, Monterrey

Brazil:

Cine Belas Artes, Sao Paolo

The Mountain Review by The List UK

Gorillaz successfully balance weighty subject matter and a whopping line-up of guests artists on new album The Mountain, transforming grief into a musical celebration of loss. 

Gorillaz’ ninth studio album begins in Varanasi, a sacred northern Indian city synonymous with mortality, frequented by one million Hindu pilgrims each year. It is here, by the banks of the Ganges, where Damon Albarn came to scatter his father’s ashes. Just ten days after Albarn’s father passed, Jamie Hewlett, co-founder of the band and the artist responsible for the design of its virtual members, also lost his father. Rather than suppress their grief, Albarn and Hewlett decided to embrace the Indian custom of mourning outwardly, using The Mountain as an opportunity to celebrate the lives of those no longer with us.

It’s a dramatic prelude to an album that gets off to a particularly stirring start. Proceedings begin with a largely instrumental title track, featuring contributions from Grammy-nominated sitar player Anoushka Shankar and classical flautist Ajay Prasanna. It’s a nod to Albarn’s father, Keith, who drew inspiration from Hindu art throughout his life. The piece builds gradually to a rather moving crescendo on which Albarn can be heard repeating the line ‘all good souls come to rest’.

As you might expect from a Gorillaz album, no note is held on to for too long, and the downtempo atmosphere is consistently interspersed with fleeting moments of vibrant positivity. ‘The Manifesto’ is one of the highlights of album number nine, on which we’re introduced to emerging Argentine rapper Trueno. The 23-year-old’s high-tempo raps are propped up by a posthumous contribution from Proof, of rap group D12. It’s a touching reflection of the way The Mountain seeks to celebrate both the people who have come before and those we are yet to meet. The record is littered with collaboration, featuring no less than 24 guest artists. Be it new blood like the soulful Jalen Ngonda, familiar faces such as Yasiin Bey or the impeccable tones of 92-year-old Bollywood icon Asha Bhosle, we hear five different languages and almost too many styles to count.

There are multiple posthumous appearances, including Bobby Womack, who made such a meaningful contribution to Gorillaz’ 2010 release Plastic Beach, and De La Soul’s David Jolicoeur. Mark E Smith sounds particularly enchanting, repeatedly crying out ‘Delirium’ on the track of the same name that sounds as though it came straight from the Plastic Beach sessions.  Of course, not everything comes off. With as much experimentation and fusing of sounds as there is on modern Gorillaz albums, some moments fail to leave much of a lasting impression, such as the stripped back Idles collaboration ‘The God Of Lying’, which feels like something of a missed opportunity.

But on the whole, the difference between The Mountain and some of Gorillaz’ recent projects is that the team-ups seem laser focused. While at times it felt as though the band had taken a scattergun approach to selecting featured performers on Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez or Humanz, each guest appearance on The Mountain appears carefully considered. Rather than search for the most unique superstar crossover possible, Albarn and co look to have meticulously recruited each artist to serve a specific purpose on an album that deals with weighty themes.

by: Danny Munro (THE LINK) 4/5 STARS 

The Mountain Sleeves

Produced by: 

Damon Albarn, Remi Kabaka Jr, James Ford and Samuel Egglenton.

Recorded at: 

Studio 13, London

Studio 13, Devon

Kintsugi Studio, Delhi

Island City Studios, Mumbai

Studio 5020, Miami

Criteria, Miami

Amber Fort, Rajasthan

The Ghats, Varanasi; 

& some places in Rishikesh, Damascus, Syria, New York.

Personnel includes:

Damon Albarn  (vocals, guitars,  keyboards,  percussion,  harmonica), Dennis  Hopper, Asha Puthli,  Bobby Womack,  Dave Jolicoeur,  Jalen Ngonda,  Black Thought, Ron  and Russell Mael  from Sparks, Tony  Allen, Bizarapp,  Kara Jackson,  Trueno, Proof,  Joe Talbot, Omar  Souleyman, Yasiin  Bey, Mark E Smith,  Asha Bhosle, Gruff  Rhys, Vlad (vocals),  Johnny Marr  (electric guitars),  Ajay Prasanna  (flute, bansuri,  tabla), Anoushka  Shankar (sitar),  Amaan Ali Bangash,  Ayaan Ali Bangash  (sarod), Viraj  Acharya, Bharat  Singh (percussion,  tabla), Izzi Dunn  (cello), Kotono Sato,  Sarah Tuke (violins),  Ciara Ismail (viola),  Olivia Jageurs  (harp), Chris  Storr (trumpet),  Matthew Gunner  (French horn),  Santiago Alvarado  (keyboards),  The Mountain  Choir, Rebecca  Freckleton, Jesse  Appiah, Paul  Simonon (backing  vocals).

Damon Albarn on India, John & Yoko and Mark
E Smith - Q&A by Uncut

U: How did you end up in India?

DA: This is Jamie’s story to tell, really, but his wife Emma’s mother had a horrific accident in India, and Jamie went out there to help get her back to France, where she later died. But, despite that horrific experience, Jamie found India a magical place. And when he said he was going back, I said, “I’ll come with you.” I’ve always wanted to go there and it allowed me and Jamie to spend some important time together. 

Did you and Jamie fall out?

DA: After Plastic Beach, we didn’t split up, but we really fell out. It’s only recently that we’ve managed to repair things. And, in India, we got really very close again, as close as we were when we shared a flat together in west London 25 years ago. We were expressing the same emotions, both going through the same mourning process. And we both felt that the Indian way of dealing with death – rebirth, reinvention was healthy.

You spread your father’s ashes  in the Ganges – was that his  dying wish? 

DA: No, he never discussed his death  with me. I just thought it would  be a lovely thing to take a small  part of his ashes to Varanasi. Part  of what I got from my dad was a  sense of the divine. He was always fascinated with India and Indian culture. He used to  play me Indian music as a kid all  the time. In his last few weeks,  when he was on his last legs, we played him a morning raga,  and he miraculously seemed to  come out of the coma that he was  in, and was weirdly lucid for half  an hour.

Is it true that he introduced  John and Yoko? 

DA: He helped put on the art  exhibition where John Lennon  met Yoko Ono. That is part of our family mythology. I once  found myself in Chinawhite with Julian Lennon, having a long chat, just two of us in a  darkened room, and I told him  that story. And he looked at me  and went, “Hmmm. Thanks.”  That was it. Haha!

Where did you meet Asha  Bhosle? 

DA: I recorded Asha in her house  in Mumbai, in a room with  [legendary Bollywood film  composer] RD Burman’s old  harmonium, which I played. I  couldn’t believe she was up for  even meeting, let alone recording.  What an extraordinary force of  nature that woman is. Everywhere  we went in India seemed to be  full of life and noise and music.  I loved the studios in Mumbai:  phenomenal musicians going in  and out all the time, all with an  incredible workrate. 

You obviously had a huge  back catalogue of unused  recordings from people  you’ve worked with who have now died… 

DA: It was great to find stuff from Mark  E Smith that we hadn’t used – his  mad rants about “china heads  and the slave master”, it’s just  wild. The only person I couldn’t  believe we had nothing left on  tape was Terry [Hall]. There was  always banter in the studio, he  was very chatty, but the engineer  at the time must have been super efficient, so we only kept the bits  we used. I’ve now vowed to never  get rid of anything! 

How autobiographical are the  lyrics here? 

DA: I’d say this is the most emotional  album I’ve ever made, certainly  as Gorillaz. The lyric about being  a chastened man on “The Empty  Dream Machine”, I do mean  that. I do endeavour to keep  improving as a human being,  because that seems to be the only option. I really have been  chastened in recent years – by  relationship breakdown, divorce,  death, politics. And, of course,  the dark satanic mills of global  politics, that all oozes out of the  floorboards on this record.

This is a very multilingual  LP: how much do you  understand?  

DA: Bits. My German and French  are pretty good. I speak a bit of  Spanish. That comes through  my daughter Missy, who is fluent  in Spanish and has spent time  in Buenos Aires, and got me  into Trueno and Bizzarap, the  Argentinians on this album.  But you often don’t need to  understand every word to connect  emotionally. That’s why I find  lyrics so difficult. Much of the  time, I want to keep the lyrics I  improvise on the original demos,  because they’ve got the right  emotion. On the first Gorillaz  record, my lyrics were almost  all gobbledygook. I sometimes  have difficulty articulating my  emotions. But I’ve tried to do it on  this album, as honestly as I could.

What other projects are you  working on? 

DA: I’m currently working on the  score to Luca Guadagnino’s film,  Artificial, about Sam Altman. I’m singing some songs and  writing some electronic and  orchestral backing. Do you still carry your home  studio around with you? Yes, always. I don’t have a mobile  phone, but I do have an iPad with  GarageBand. When everyone else is scrolling, I’m sitting there  putting a hi-hat on a song. What’s  the person sitting next to me  playing Sudoku got at the end of his puzzle? After an hour, I’ve  got a tune!

What would you say to  accusations of “cultural  appropriation”? 

DA: I don’t see it as appropriating  anything. I’m just learning  how to speak a few words of a  different language. I’m just really  interested and enthralled and  fascinated by any nuance in a  culture that I don’t understand.  And I want to learn it and project it  forward, project it back. I want to  see its reflection, I want to taste its  flavours. I want to be enveloped  by it. And if that’s appropriation,  well, that’s me. If you’re genuinely  interested and respectful: great.  What else is there, apart from  learning more? I was brought up  in the East End of London in the  1970s, in a terraced house, with  a Jamaican family on one side and a Pakistani family next door.  I’m hardwired to be interested  in all cultures, to get into  conversations and friendships  with different people.

Gorillaz are playing some  huge venues this year – how  will you approach them? 

DA: I like the idea of recreating a  record from beginning to end. But  I’d also like to do a selection of  music which changes on a nightly  basis, a different show every  night. I mean, I’m hoping to get all the key vocalists on this  album – we’ll have Black Thought  there, but I’m sure he won’t be  able to do every night, and that’s  true of all the guests. For the  departed singers, luckily, we’ve  always filmed everybody in the studio, so we can play around with that. It’d be nice to  conjure up some very powerful  holograms everywhere…  

INTERVIEW: JOHN LEWIS

The Mountain Review by Uncut Magazine

IN TV they talk of the “anthology series”: a regular, recurring show, like The Twilight Zone, Tales Of The Unexpected, Inside No 9 or Black Mirror, where each episode has a different setting, cast and sometimes director, unified only by a small team of writers or showrunners. In a similar vein, you could see certain 21st-century outfits – Sault, UNKLE, Handsome Boy Modelling School, Mr Jukes – as “anthology groups”: modular ensembles with a shifting cast of guest musicians and vocalists, changing from song to song.

Gorillaz are, of course, the anthology group ne plus ultra. Just two threads hold the project together. One is the punky, cartoonish artwork of Jamie Hewlett; the other is the anything-goes sonic adventurism of Damon Albarn – always singing, in this context, through effects, as if he’s making an emergency phone call from the wreckage of some digital shanty town.

Over the last decade, however, things had broken down between Hewlett and Albarn, and there seemed something a little formulaic about the last few Gorillaz albums: they served up some decent slices of global pop with some marquee names, but without much synergy between the artwork and the music, and no grand concepts of the kind that united 2010’s Plastic Beach. After 2023’s Cracker Island, Albarn suggested that Gorillaz were in need of “a paradigm shift”, and their ninth studio album provides that. Instead of a series of discrete, bite-sized TV shows, The Mountain is an epic, banquet-sized movie. It retains the musical universe familiar from previous Gorillaz albums – American singers, Latino rappers, English pop eccentrics, African and Middle Eastern multi-instrumentalists – but the setting here shifts to India. A recurring cast of Hindustani classical musicians provide much of the background, while the lyrics are inspired by Hindu notions of Samsara and the life cycle, dominated by themes of death and rebirth.

Part of the reason why Albarn and Hewlett are once again tight and simpático is because they were united by grief after a triptych of deaths: Hewlett’s mother-in law’s death in 2023 was followed by his father’s death in 2024, just 10 days after Albarn lost his own father. Albarn senior, incidentally, had a life that was almost as interesting as his son’s: an inspirational art course leader, whose students included Adam Ant, Malcolm McLaren, Peter Greenaway and Ian Dury, he briefly managed Soft Machine and curated dozens of art exhibitions and “happenings” around Swinging London.

Like many 1960s counterculturalists, he also had a long term obsession with Indian music and culture, which feeds into this album. Several tracks even serve as eulogies for him. “Your legacy frightens me”, we hear on “Orange County”, while “The Sweet Prince” seems to narrate Keith Albarn’s last moments. “Sweet prince, don’t be sad/You were never meant to be here”, Damon sings over Anoushka Shankar’s tumbling sitar flourishes and Johnny Marr’s jangling guitar. Here the syringe that administers palliative painkilling injections becomes a sword which “will set you on your patterned path into the next life”.

In keeping with the spirit of death and resurrection, Albarn has also mined his archive to find unused vocal snippets from now-deceased Gorillaz guest singers. In this world, death is not the end: Bobby Womack’s soulful croon and Dave Jolicoeur’s abstract couplets are reanimated for “The Moon Cave”; Mark E Smith’s glorious gibberish about “peg-legged slave traders” and “shrunken China heads” serves as the chorus to “Delirium”; Tony Allen intoning “we are ready” in Yoruba introduces “The Hardest Thing”; while Dennis Hopper’s distinctive raspy tone provides the name of the LP. Proof, a rapper from Eminem’s Detroit collective D12, was shot dead in 2006, but his contribution to “The Manifesto”, recorded 25 years ago, sees him almost narrating his own murder. “Beefing with your blocks/That you’re creeping with your Glock/Now you’re sleeping in a box”, he declaims, over a woozy, Dilla-style waltz and some drunken funereal horns.

Even the newly recorded guest vocalists concentrate on themes of mortality. Sharing bars with Proof on “The Manifesto” is the 23-year-old Argentine rapper Trueno – he’s rapping in Spanish but his verse, translated in the sleevenotes, is an astonishingly poetic invocation of the life cycle (“I crossed the threshold and today I feel free… only my feats, my virtue and my feeling accompany me/To live chapter two of this tale”). Gruff Rhys ends “The Shadowy Light” with the lines “I shed my skin/The end is the beginning”; Black Thought from The Roots sprays out several verbose rhymes throughout, ruminating on the final track that: “Even if they let me into Heaven I would probably just move back soon”.

But the sonic signature of The Mountain remains the core group of classical Indian musicians – sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar, bansuri flautist Ajay Prasanna, tabla player Viraj Acharya and sarod-playing brothers Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash – as well the nine-piece Mountain Choir. Even the most English sounding track here – the drunken, clanking, Jerry Dammers-inspired ska of “The God Of Lying”, featuring a deadpan vocal by Joe Talbot from Idles – comes wreathed in tablas and bansuri flute, like a Bollywood take on “Clint Eastwood” from the first Gorillaz album.

The ecstatic Arabic blip-hop of “Damascus” sees Syrian singer Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey (the artist formerly known as Mos Def) trading verses over the pulsating percussion of Viraj Acharya. “The Manifesto” started off with a simple Latin preset on one of Albarn’s vintage home organs and it would have worked perfectly if set to a dembow-style reggaeton beat, but it piles on so many Indian rhythms that it morphs – quite brilliantly – into a piece of heavy bhangra. And the pulsating synth pop of “The Shadowy Light” is transformed by Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle, now aged 92, with a lyric that sees her welcoming the process of death (“come, oh boatman, lower my boat into still waters/And take me, finally, to the other side”, she trills, in Hindi).

Just as this threatens to look like gap-year fetishisation of brown spirituality, the Kraftwerkian “The Plastic Guru” serves as a welcome rejoinder – an account of Albarn and Hewlett’s Beatles-like visit to an ashram in Rishikesh, where they quickly grew suspicious of their assigned swami (“starring in your own show and selling your snake oil”). Bleepy analogue synths and a jabbering four-to-the-bar piano are slowly drenched in multi tracked sitars and the massed ranks of an Indian ceremonial band, as if to desperately assert the guru’s credentials. False idols also dominate the infectiously catchy “The Happy Dictator”, where Ron and Russell Mael from Sparks invoke the spirit of insane autocrats, like Kim Il-sung, whose rule is eternal, even after their death.

Albarn has, of course, explored grief on many occasions – Gorillaz’s “Andromeda”, Blur’s “The Ballad” and the title track to his solo album The Nearer The Fountain… are all mournful elegies to departed friends and loved ones; countless other Blur and Gorillaz songs mourn the death of relationships. You would expect an entire album with death at its central theme to be similarly hymnal, sombre and funereal, but The Mountain somehow manages to be none of these things. Its 15 tracks are filled with cheery major-key singalongs, sitar-soaked synth-pop bangers and whimsical waltzes that serve as ecstatic celebrations of life, rebirth and reinvention.

By John Lewis (Uncut) 9/10 Album of the Month

The Mountain Review by Record Collector

With just 30 days to go until the release of the new album The Mountain, anticipation continues to build. Critics are already sharing their first impressions, and Record Collector describes it as “a record of sorrows, salves and state-of-the-now despair,” awarding it a strong 4 out of 5 stars. 

Read the full review by clicking here.

SPAIN INTERVIEW

Today, Damon and Jamie took part in a long-distance interview from Studio 13 to Madrid for NANANA – Radio 3. The full interview will be released very soon.

You can already listen to a preview of the interview, available in English and Spanish, on our YouTube channel.

Clicking here.

We’ve also added and updated the Gigography section.

Orange Coutny - BZRP Radio Mix

The new edition of Orange County is now available. This version premiered on January 15 on BBC Radio 1. A few days ago, Bizarrap himself mentioned on his X account that the release would happen this week, and now you can listen.

Youtube Music - clicking here.

Apple Music - clicking here.

Spotify - clickling here.

The Mountain Listening Party - EUROPE

The Mountain listening parties - an exclusive opportunity to hear the new album before its official release. Experience it together at record stores across EUROPE.

Limited edition, white label copies of The Mountain will be available to purchase exclusively at participating stores.

NETHERLANDS

CONCERTO RECORD STORE, Amsterdam

SOUNDS. Delft

SWEDEN

BENGANS, Stockholm

NORWAY

PLATEBUTIKKEN BIG DIPPER, Oslo

FINLAND

8RAITA, Turku

Belgium

8RAITA, Turku

CZECH REPUBLIC

MUSIC RECORDS, Plzen

The Mountain Listening Party IRELAND

The Mountain listening parties - an exclusive opportunity to hear the new album before its official release. Experience it together at record stores across Ireland.

Limited edition, white label copies of The Mountain will be available to purchase exclusively at participating stores.

BIGMOON, Drogheda / CO, Louth

BEN O´NEIL Dungarvan / Co, Waterford

LUCA RECORDS Waterford

MUSIC ZONE Cork

STEAMBOAT Limerick

VOLUME RECORDS Dublin

SPINDIZZY Dublin

HELP 2 by Warchild

Inspired by the iconic 1995 album HELP, a stellar cast of musicians came together across one special week in November 2025 to create a new record in support of War Child’s work to secure a safer, brighter future for children whose lives have been torn apart by war.

HELP(2) was brought to life through a close collaboration with Abbey Road Studios, under the stewardship of acclaimed producer James Ford as Executive Producer. HELP(2) features an incredible line-up of contributors including Anna Calvi, Arctic Monkeys, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Beabadoobee, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country, New Road, Cameron Winter, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode, Dove Ellis, Ellie Rowsell, English Teacher, Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon, Greentea Peng, Grian Chatten, Kae Tempest, King Krule, Nilüfer Yanya, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, The Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg and Young Fathers…amongst other musicians, engineers, mixers and producers.

“HELP(2) is more than an album. It’s a powerful example of what can happen when the music industry comes together around a shared purpose. It has united a diverse group of artists and creatives in support of War Child’s vital work with children affected by the devastating impacts of war. We are immensely grateful to all the artists and teams who have donated their voices, talent and time to support our mission to ensure that no child is caught up in conflict zones. We hope this record not only raises vital funds, but also awareness of the urgent need to turn compassion into action and do more to protect children living through war.” - Rich Clarke, Head of Music at War Child UK.

The collaborative nature of the recording process mirrored the spirit of the original record, with various unplanned special collaborations unfolding in the studio; Damon Albarn’s session found Johnny Marr laying down guitar and Kae Tempest and Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. adding spontaneous vocals while Graham Coxon ended up playing guitar for Olivia Rodrigo’s cover of ‘The Book of Love’.

In addition to the stellar cast of musicians involved, renowned filmmaker and Academy Award Winner Jonathan Glazer acted as Creative Director for ‘HELP(2)’, working with Academy Films to assemble a team of brilliant creatives and overseeing the filming and art direction for the project. Glazer’s concept was simple - “By Children, For Children” - with his team handing the cameras over to children in order to see the world through their eyes and serve as a constant reminder of the reason for the endeavor to the audience and all involved.

Setlist: 

Side A
Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night
Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten & Kae Tempest - Flags
Black Country, New Road - Strangers
The Last Dinner Party - Let’s do it again!
Beth Gibbons - Sunday Morning

Side B
Arooj Aftab & Beck - Lilac Wine
King Krule - The 343 Loop
Depeche Mode - Universal Soldier
Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng - Helicopters
Arlo Parks - Nothing I Could Hide
English Teacher & Graham Coxon - Parasite
Beabadoobee - Say Yes

Side C
Big Thief - Relive, Redie
Fontaines D.C. - Black Boys on Mopeds
Cameron Winter - Warning
Young Fathers - Don’t Fight the Young
Pulp - Begging for Change
Sampha - Naboo

Side D
Wet Leg - Obvious
Foals - When the War is Finally Done
Bat For Lashes - Carried my girl
Anna Calvi, Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya & Dove Ellis - Sunday Light
Olivia Rodrigo - The Book of Love

preorder clicking here.

The Mountain Listening Party CANADA

GORILLAZ ANNOUNCES GLOBAL LISTING EVENTS FOR INDIE RECORD SHOPS

Gorillaz has announced a global listening events for indie record shops. The event will be taking place on February 23rd ahead of the February 27th release date.

Participating Canadian stores:

33 1/3 RECORD STORE

37 HARRY WALKER PARKWAY SOUTH UNIT A6.2

NEWMARKET, ON L3Y 0G3

ARGY'S COLLECTIBLES

1604, ST-MARY'S RD UNIT 9

WINNIPEG, MB R2M 3W5

AUDITION MUSIK

120, Rue St-Germain Ouest

RIMOUSKI, QC G5L 4B5

AUX 33 TOURS

1373 MONT-ROYAL EST

MONTREAL, QC H2J 1Y8

BACKSTREET RECORDS

124, GERMAIN STREET

SAINT JOHN, NB E2L 2E7

BACKSTREET RECORDS

384 QUEEN STREET

FREDERICTON, NB E3B 1B2

BEAT STREET RECORDS

439 WEST HASTINGS STREET

VANCOUVER, BC V6B 1L4

BLACKBYRD MYOOZIK

10442, 82 AVE.

EDMONTON, AB T6E 2A2

DEAD DOG RECORDS

1277 BLOOR ST WEST

TORONTO, ON M6H 1N7

DINE ALONE RECORDS

864 EASTERN AVENUE

TORONTO, ON M4L 1A3

ELEVATED MUSIC

5696 176 ST

SURREY, BC V3S 4C6

FREESON ROCK

1477, MONT-ROYAL EST

MONTREAL, QC H2J 1Z1

FRENCHIE’S RECORDS & COFFEE

260 TACHE AVE

WINNIPEG, MB R2H 1Z9

GROOVES RECORDS

236 DUNDAS STREET

LONDON, ON N6A 1H3

HIGH NOTES COFFEE & VINYL

2057 DUNDAS STREET WEST

TORONTO, ON M6R 1W8

HIGH NOTES COFFEE & VINYL

109 LAKESHORE ROAD EAST

MISSISSAUGA, ON L5G 1E2

INTO THE ABYSS RECORDS

267 KING ST EAST

HAMILTON, ON L8N 1B9

LE BACKSTORE

169 des Pins est

MONTREAL, QC H2W 1N9

LE KNOCK-OUT

47 RUE ST-JOSEPH EST

QUEBEC CITY, QC G1K 1W8

LE NOISE

874 SAINT-LAURENT OUEST

LONGUEUIL, QC J4K 5E9

LISTEN RECORDS & CD'S

10443A - 124 STREET

EDMONTON, AB T5N 1R7

MAD DOG'S COFFEE AND VINYL CAFÉ

239 HURONTARIO STREET

COLLINGWOOD, ON L9Y 2M1

MINDBOMB RECORDS

27 JAMES STREET

St. CATHARINES, ON L2R 5B9

NEPTOON

3561 MAIN STREET

VANCOUVER, BC V5V 3N4

NOW AND THEN

945 GARDINERS ROAD, unit L11

KINGSTON, ON K7M 7H4

OBSOLETE RECORDS

2855 AGRICOLA ST.

HALIFAX, NS B3K 4E6

PLANETE CLAIRE

403 RACINE EST LOCAL B

CHICOUTIMI, QC G7H 1S8

POP MUSIC

345 BROADVIEW AVENUE

TORONTO, ON M4M 2H1

RED CAT RECORDS

4386 MAIN STREET

VANCOUVER, BC V5V 3P9

REVOLUTION RECORDS

166 OTTAWA STREET NORTH

HAMILTON, ON L8H 3Z3

REVOLUTION RECORDS

32 KING STREET EAST

DUNDAS, ON L9H 1B8

SONIC BOOM

100-215 SPADINA AVENUE

TORONTO, ON M5T 2C7

TAZ RECORDS

1521 GRAFTON ST.

HALIFAX, NS B3J 2B9

TAZ RECORDS

1239 BEDFORD HWY, SUITE2

BEDFORD, NS B4A 1C5

THE BEAT GOES ON

385 Fairway Road South

Kitchener, ON N2C 2N9

THE BEAT GOES ON

23 Wellington Road East

Guelph, ON N1H 3R7

THE ODDS & SODS SHOPPE

1400 CLYDE AVENUE UNIT #8

OTTAWA, ON K2G 3J2

THE RECORD CENTRE

1097 WELLINGTON ST. WEST

OTTAWA, ON K1Y 2Y4

TURN IT UP RECORDS AND HIFI

418 16TH AVE NW

CALGARY, AB T2M 0J1

VINYL RECORDS

44 WATER STREET

GASTOWN, VANCOUVER, BC V6B 1A4

WRONG WAY RECORDS

197B MAIN STREET S

NEWMARKET, ON L3Y 3Y9 

The Mountain Listening Party UK

To celebrate the release of Gorillaz's TheMountain we will be hosting a Listening Party in-store, where you can hear the FULL ALBUM a whole FOUR DAYS ahead of release on Monday the 23rd of Feb at 5pm!

Free posters for attendees + the chance to order an EXCLUSIVE white label vinyl edition of the album on the night!*

Sign up here: 

Assai Records Dundee

33 Union Street, Dundee DD1 4BS

Assai Records Edinburgh

1 Grindlay Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AT

Assai Records Glasgow

233 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3EX

Assai Records Aberdeen

THE VINYL WHISTLE

12 Otley Rd, Headingley, Leeds

Rough Trade Nottingham

5 Broad St, Nottingham NG1 3AJ, UK

Rough Trade West London

Talbot Rd, London W11 1JA

Rough Trade East London

The Old Truman Brewery, 150 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL

Rough Trade Liverpool

54-56 Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 4AF

Resident Music

28 Kensington Gardens, Brighton, BN1 4AL

Raves from the Graves

2- 3 King Street, Frome, BA11 1BH

Sound Knowledge

22 Hughenden Yard, Marlborough, SN8 1LT

Stranger Than Paradise Records

Mare Street Market, 117 Mare Street, Hackney, London,

Song of the Week

Radio X indicated that Orange County is the Record of the Week.

Don’t forget you can listen to it on your favorite platforms:

Spotiffy

Apple Music

Youtube Music

Qobuz

Deezer

and purchase it digitally through official distributors:

Qobuz

NEWS

We’ve been told that several people already have the new double A-side single vinyl “The Hardest Thing / Orange County.”

You can get it at your favorite record stores.

Promo photo

KONG001SO57 – 199806025604

FULL-LENGTH

The wait for Gorillaz’s new album, The Mountain, is almost over, so we’re sharing the duration of each track:

The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash & Ayaan Ali Bangash) — 4:50

The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda & Black Thought) — 4:57

The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks) — 4:44

The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen) — 2:18

Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson & Anoushka Shankar) — 3:28

The God of Lying (feat. IDLES) — 3:09

The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr & Anoushka Shankar) — 5:40

The Manifesto (feat. Trueno & Proof) — 7:19

The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr & Anoushka Shankar) — 3:14

Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith) — 3:52

Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman & Yasiin Bey) — 4:04

The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash & Ayaan Ali Bangash) — 5:39

Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon & Johnny Marr) — 3:46

The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr & Anoushka Shankar) — 4:33

The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna & Anoushka Shankar) — 4:49

Total running time: 66:22

The Hardest Thing + Orange County Press Released

Gorillaz climbs further up The Mountain with a new track out today titled “Orange County (ft. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson & Anoushka Shankar)”, which comes with its companion track “The Hardest Thing (ft Tony Allen).” Side by side on new studio album The Mountain – out February 27th on Gorillaz’ own new label KONG – the two tracks are also available now on a limited-edition Double A Side 7” vinyl. Experience the full two track 8-minute piece as intended HERE.

Written by Damon Albarn, “The Hardest Thing” opens with the voice of longtime collaborator and friend, the pioneering musician and drummer Tony Allen who passed away in 2020. The song is a beautiful exploration of grief and hope, both central themes on new album The Mountain, with the haunting lyric, “You know the hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love, That is the hardest thing” carrying through into “Orange County.” The uplifting track sees Albarn joined by singer-songwriter and poet Kara Jackson on vocals, as well as four-time Grammy-nominated sitar player Anoushka Shankar. Produced by Gorillaz and Bizarrap, “Orange County” was written by Damon Albarn, former U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate, Kara Jackson, and two-time Latin Grammy-winning, Argentine artist, producer and musical innovator Bizarrap.

PREMIERE TONIGHT!

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are back on BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show with Jack Saunders this Today, presenting more music from upcoming album The Mountain! Two new songs arrive tonight: The Hardest Thing and Orange County.

Today 8:30 PM on BBC Radio 1

Listen clicking Here. (Only UK)

If you are outside the UK, you can listen by clicking here.

The Hardest Thing / Orange County 7" Vinyl

Limited edition Double A Side 7" Single, Black Bio Vinyl. Original artwork by Jamie Hewlett. 

The Hardest Thing (featuring Tony Allen and Ajay Prasanna) and Orange County (featuring Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar) are included on The Mountain, Gorillaz’ ninth studio album, a collection of 15 new tracks featuring a stellar list of artists and collaborators. 

Only 1,500 units available globally. 

Tracklist:

Side A:

The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen)

Side AA:

Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)

Photo promo

Booking NOW!

House of Kong is coming to Los Angeles for last time. 

The exhibition will be open for a limited time at Rolling Greens DTLA from February 26 - March 19.

An exhibition like no other, peek behind the curtain into the unseen world of Gorillaz. Open from 10am to 10pm daily, the exhibition offers an hour-long immersive experience with tickets priced from $39.50. Valet Parking available.  

House of Kong exhibition tickets available now: www.gorillaz.com/houseofkong 

For tickets and more information on the exhibition and live shows visit: www.gorillaz.com/houseofkong

See the Promo video.

Snippet Orange County

The Kong Studios jukebox has just been updated — and we have “Orange County” coming up next.

kongstudios.gorillaz.com

Direct Links

We already have direct access links for the new Double A single, “THE HARDEST THING / ORANGE COUNTY.” It will be available on February 15, and the links will be active and fully updated starting tomorrow.

Orange County

The Hardest Thing

SAVE THE DAY!

We have great news! The new album “The Mountain” is currently the second most pre-saved album on Spotify.

You can also pre-save it on your favorite music streaming platform—check out the links below:

Spotify 

Apple Music

Amazon Music

Also, don’t forget to purchase the album from the official store:

Gorillaz Store