Gorillaz have announced a new album called The Mountain. The follow-up to 2023’s Cracker Island will be released on March 20 on the band’s own new label, KONG. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the new single ‘Happy Dictator’, an adventurous, glimmering collaboration with Sparks. Check it out and find the album cover and tracklist below.
The new record’s stacked guest list also includes Ajay Prasanna, Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash, Anoushka Shankar, Asha Bhosle, Asha Puthli, Bizarrap, Black Thought, Gruff Rhys, IDLES, Jalen Ngonda, Johnny Marr, Kara Jackson, Omar Souleyman, Paul Simonon, Trueno, and Yasiin Bey. Gorillaz produced it alongside James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, and Remi Kabaka Jr., with additional production from Bizarrap (Orange County).
The Mountain was recorded at Studio 13 in London and Devon, various locations in India (including Mumbai, New Delhi, Rajasthan, and Varanasi), as well as Ashgabat, Damascus, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. It features artists performing in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba. According to a press release, “Circumstances now find Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, 2D and Noodle in India, having made their way to Mumbai with the help of four fake passports courtesy of a New York business acquaintance of Murdoc. The band has turned its back on international pop stardom, with our heroes now immersed in the rhythms of mystical music-making, as they navigate the mountainous terrain of this thing called life.”
Gorillaz drummer Russel Hobbs remarked: “As space dust we are here forever and that’s a mighty long time. This is a musical meditation infused with light. A journey of the soul, with beats…”
The Mountain Cover Artwork:
The Mountain Tracklist:
1. The Mountain [feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash]
2. The Moon Cave [feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought]
3. The Happy Dictator [feat. Sparks]
4. The Hardest Thing [feat. Tony Allen]
5. Orange County [feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar]
6. The God of Lying [feat. IDLES]
7. The Empty Dream Machine [feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar]
8. The Manifesto [feat. Trueno and Proof]
9. The Plastic Guru [feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar]
10. Delirium [feat. Mark E. Smith]
11. Damascus [feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey]
12. The Shadowy Light [feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash]
13. Casablanca [feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr]
14. The Sweet Prince [feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar]
15. The Sad God [feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar]
