Damon Albarn has officially announced the first new Gorillaz album since 2023. The follow-up to Cracker Island is called The Mountain, and it’s out March 20 via the band’s own new label, Kong. Leading the 15-track release is a song featuring Sparks titled “Happy Dictator.” Listen to the new single below.
The Mountain was produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, and Remi Kabaka Jr., with additional contributions from Argentine producer Bizarrap. The album was recorded at Albarn’s Studio 13, in London, as well as his studio in Devon, England, and locations in Mumbai, New Delhi, Rajasthan, and Varanasi, India; Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; Damascus, Syria; Los Angeles; Miami; and New York.
As is often the case with Gorillaz albums, The Mountain is filled with guests, and, this time, artists are performing in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba. Contributors to the new album include Idles, Kara Jackson, Yasiin Bey, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Black Thought of the Roots, Anoushka Shankar, and Omar Souleyman. Additionally, the album includes the voices of a number of deceased figures, including Bobby Womack, Dave “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, actor Dennis Hopper, the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, Detroit rapper Proof, and Tony Allen. See the tracklist for The Mountain below.
Gorillaz will follow The Mountain with a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. See those dates below.
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The Mountain:
01 The Mountain [ft. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali
Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash]
02 The Moon Cave [ft. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda
and Black Thought]
03 The Happy Dictator [ft. Sparks]
04 The Hardest Thing [ft. Tony Allen]
05 Orange County [ft. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar]
06 The God of Lying [ft. Idles]
07 The Empty Dream Machine [ft. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka
Shankar]
08 The Manifesto [ft. Trueno and Proof]
09 The Plastic Guru [ft. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar]
10 Delirium [ft. Mark E. Smith]
11 Damascus [ft. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey]
12 The Shadowy Light [ft. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali
Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash]
13 Casablanca [ft. Paul Simonon and Johny Marr]
14 The Sweet Prince [ft. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar]
15 The Sad God [ft. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar]
Gorillaz:
03-21 Manchester, England – Co-op Live
03-22 Birmingham, England – BP Pulse Live
03-24 Glasgow, Scotland – OVO Hydro *
03-25 Leeds, England – First Direct Arena *
03-27 Cardiff, Wales – Utilita Arena *
03-28 Nottingham, England – Motorpoint Arena *
03-29 Liverpool, England – M&S Bank Arena *
03-31 Belfast, Northern Ireland – SSE Arena *
04-01 Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena *
06-20 London, England – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ^*
* with Trueno
^ with Sparks
