The track list for the album will look like this.

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]

Damon Albarn created Gorillaz in 1998 as a project with artist Jamie Hewlett. The band is said to be sprung out of the duo’s disdain for the popular music at the time and its fictitious portrayal of life amongst celebrities.

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The group also allowed the Blur frontman to experiment away from the britpop blanket he got comfortable underneath in the 90s and you can really see how diverse his approach to music can be, throughout their discography.

Out of hatred for superficiality, Gorillaz was born. A fictitious band (besides Albarn himself) featuring 4 animated members: 2-D, vocalist and keyboardist; Murdoc Niccals, Bassist; Noodle – guitar, keyboard and vocals; and Russel Hobbs, the drummer. 

It must be said that this isn’t just any silly side project. The band has sold millions of albums worldwide, won a Grammy, multiple Brit Awards and received a Mercury prize nomination. This may be a spawn of curiosity, but it’s captured the hearts of many, and deserves the attention it commands.

The fabricated sensation returned to the stage earlier this month, for a show where phones were banned, and their new music was on display for fans at the London Copper Box Arena. The ‘mystery gig’ turned out to be their new album back to front which featured some familiar faces. 

Special guests Johnny Marr, Joe Talbot and Sparks joined the band on stage, in a spectacle of secrecy and brilliance.

Gorillaz have since treated us to a taste of their new album by releasing ‘The Happy Dictator’ featuring Sparks. It’s a beautifully nostalgic critique of the hypocrisy of modern day society and likely the higher powers within.

The oxymoronic title is echoed in the lyricism of the song. “Everything is slowing down yet everything is faster… oh what a happy land we live in’ is a standout statement. It displays a clear confusion with modern life, and ironically proclaims it’s a happy land, when evidently it seems Albarn thinks otherwise.

According to NME: ‘The Mountain’ “includes collaborations with Black Thought, Omar Souleyman, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle, Sparks, Gruff Rhys, Kara Jackson, Yasiin Bey, Paul Simonon, IDLES‘ Joe Talbot, Johnny Marr, Ajay Prasanna, Trueno and Anoushka Shankar.

The London Arab Orchestra, Demon Strings, Chris Storr, James Copus and Matthew Gunner also served as featured musicians, while deceased acts like Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, De La Soul‘s Dave Jolicoeur, Tony Allen, Proof and the late Mark E Smith of The Fall are billed as Voices from Elsewhere.’

The Album is set for release on March 20 2026. The dates and locations for ‘The Mountain Tour’ are as follows: 

March:

21 – Co-op Live, Manchester
22 – BP Pulse Live, Birmingham
24 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow (support from Trueno)
25 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
27 – Utilitia Arena, Cardiff (support from Trueno)
28 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham (support from Trueno)
29 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool (support from Trueno)
31 – SSE Arena, Belfast

April 1

3Arena, Dublin (support from Trueno)

June 20

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London (support from Sparks and Trueno)

Ticket information can be accessed here.

The visual-pop pioneers will take to the Copper Box Arena stage for four intimate, one-off shows between August 29 and September 3. The gigs will mark the end of their House of Kong exhibition at the same venue.

Damon Albarn will be joined on stage by the full Gorillaz live band, including the iconic visuals from artist Jamie Hewlett. They intend to recreate the look and feel of shows from past eras and transform the arena back to the times of their first albums.

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Kicking off on August 29, the band will perform their self-titled debut album from 2001, which includes classic tracks such as ‘Clint Eastwood’ and ‘Rock The House’.

They will recreate the early shows which intrigued the music world back in 2001, with visual, cartoon members Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D being front and centre with Albarn and co appearing in silhouette behind a screen.

The band will take the same stage the following night as they perform arguably their most successful album ‘Demon Days’. This will mark the first time this record has been played in full since it’s release in 2005.

Including smash hits ‘Feel Good Inc’, ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘DARE’, this will prove to be an iconic night for the lucky fans who get tickets to the 7,500 capacity gig.

‘Plastic Beach’, the band’s 2010 album, will be the next show on Tuesday September 2. This will be the first full live performance of the record since two sold-out shows at London’s Roundhouse 15 years ago.

Fans will be treated to two of Gorillaz most popular songs that night, with both ‘On Melancholy Hill’ and ‘Rhinestone Eyes’ coming off the 2010 record.

Finally, the band will close the gigs and exhibition with a performance on September 3 which the band described as a ‘Mystery Show’. No details have been shared of this final concert, but fans are speculating whether it may be a show filled with special guests, or even the performance of a brand new album in full.

Earlier this year, Albarn sat down with French magazine Les Inrockuptibles and teased a new Gorillaz album will be released this year. Discussing a new electronic opera the Blur frontman has created, Albarn said: “I’m finishing a new Gorillaz album. One opera and one new Gorillaz album seems like enough for 2025!”

Co-creator and artist for the band, Jamie Hewlett, also seemed to confirm the upcoming release, saying on Instagram: “Yes, the new album is coming out this year.”

The band are marking their 25th anniversary with the ‘House of Kong’ exhibition which is due to run from August 8 to September 3.

The project will give fans the chance to explore the “life of misadventures, musical innovation and ground-breaking visual ways” of Murdoc, 2D, Russel and Noodle.

The exhibition will be open daily from 10:30am to 10pm throughout its run, with tickets available from £25, which you can buy from here.

A ticket to the exhibition will grant you access to the pre-sale for the upcoming gigs. On sale from this Friday (May 30) you can find tickets for the special performances here.

The British virtual band, helmed by Blur’s Damon Albarn and his team, will turn 25 this year. To celebrate, an exhibition at Copper Box London allows visitors to “peek behind the curtain into the world of Gorillaz“, offering a tour of the band’s HQ and history, all the way back to their debut single ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’. In a press release, the exhibition is described as “a journey through the band’s life of misadventures, musical innovation, and ground-breaking virtual ways.” ‘House of Kong’ will run from 8 August to 3 September. 

Additionally, Gorillaz have announced four live shows at the Copper Box Arena, with more details to be announced in due course. Those with ‘House of Kong’ tickets are given exclusive presale access to the upcoming shows, which are scheduled to take place across August and September.  

These shows are the first since 2023, after the band cancelled their North American tour following the release of their 8th studio album ‘Cracker Island’. 

Gorillaz have always stood out as an innovative, creative and conceptual music project from Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. With their animated lineup of singer 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, drummer Russel Hobbs and guitar prodigy Noodle, the bands in-universe lore starts out at the fictional Kong Studios. And just as the sound of each album develops, so does the story – from paranormal, post-apocalyptic developments in ‘Demon Days’ to aliens and time travel on ‘Song Machine’.

The group have released eight studio albums which feature an exceptional range of collaborators, from Elton John to Little Simz, MF Doom to Bad Bunny, De La Soul to Lou Reed. They’ve won numerous awards – Brits, Grammys, an Ivor Novello and even the coveted Jim Henson Creativity Honor. They’ve also been officially recognised by The Guiness Book Of World Records as the earth’s Most Successful Virtual Act.

The exhibition will run daily from 10:30am to 10pm, and tickets start from £25. You can get your tickets to ‘House of Kong’ here. 

The London band had previously promised via Radio X that they would bring out a special guest for their performance at Worthy Farm who had appeared on their album ‘My Big Day’. Then X account @secretglasto hinted at who the mystery guest was going to be saying that the guest “could make Bombay Bicycle Club’s set go by in a Blur.”

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Albarn thanked Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club’s Jack Steadman and then and then took to the stage and addressed the crowd on “three things” that “You have to show me how you feel about it,” which he said during the performance of ‘Tender’. He then attempted to encourage the Glastonbury crowd to vote in the coming UK general election which looks like it is going to be an overwhelming victory for Labour over the conservatives.

He addressed the crowd on how they felt about Palestine. “Are you pro-Palestine? Do you feel that’s an unfair war?”

He then continued, telling fans they need to vote. “The importance of voting next week. Now I don’t blame you for being ambivalent about that, but it’s still really important.”

Before saying “And thirdly, maybe it’s time we stop putting octogenarians in control of the whole world” probably in reference to the USA election which will see voters choosing between 81-year-old Joe Biden and 78-year-old Donald Trump. The two engaged in a debate on the 27th of June.

Speaking to Sky News Bombay Bicycle Club said that they “were never expecting to have him on the record or to be playing a show with him, but… we just kind of asked, and he was really up for it. You don’t ask, you don’t get.”

The first day of Glastonbury also saw a secret DJ set played by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker in the early hours of Saturday Morning. This came after Kevin Parker appeared alongside Dua Lipa on her headline set of the Pyramid stage on Friday (June 28). The two had previously collaborated on Dua Lipa’s last album ‘Radical Optimism’ and they paired up for a performance on Tame Impala’s huge psychedelic hit ‘The Less I Know The Better’.

As well as this, elsewhere in Worthy farm on the first day of the festival Paul Heaton and Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) paired up for a Housemartins reunion where they performed their 1986 hit ‘Happy Hour’ on the Pyramid stage. IDLES also brought out Danny Brown as a special guest during their closing set on the Other stage where the rapper joined the Bristol band for a performance of the band’s song ‘Pop Pop Pop’.

The video was captured in December 2015 at a 60th birthday party for Paul Simonon, the bassist from The Clash, who also features in the performance. Noel can be seen singing the vocal that was originally recorded by the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder while playing guitar, with Albarn and Simonon accompanying him.

The fabled singer-songwriter released his latest single ‘Just Another Rainbow‘ earlier this month, and is more active on the social media site than ever before: insulting and berating his brother, replying to fans, calling out trolls and creating a tornado of comedic pop culture commentary on a daily basis, most of which of course, is completely daft.

Now 30 years on since Oasis skyrocketed to fame, the brothers still find themselves in the midst of a heated feud, one that doesn’t always seem to be reciprocated. Liam claims he has still not seen, let alone had any form of contact with brother Noel since the day of the split.

Oasis established themselves as Britpop powerhouses in the 90s with early singles like ‘Supersonic’, ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Whatever’, going on to take the music industry by storm. The band announced their split in August 2009 after a backstage bust-up at their final concert at Rock En Seine Festival in Paris. As the duo prepared to go on stage, an argument ensued, causing Liam to wield Noel’s guitar around ‘like an axe’.

Liam’s tell-all 2019 Netflix documentary ‘As It Was’ revealed many of the untold ins and outs of the infamous rivalry between the brothers, his family life, and how his career has shifted over the past decade. After failing to get Beady Eye off the ground immediately after the split, Gallagher has since rode the wave of a successful solo career, with Noel indulging in his own musical project, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Fans are still waiting with bated breath in the hope of a reunion some day, but it may be a day that will never come. Rumours began to circulate again in March 2023 that the brothers might reunite after Liam responded to a fan on Twitter who asked if there’s a “small percentage that Oasis get back together,” Liam simply replied: “It’s happening.”

“He’s got my number, he’s got my manager number. Call us”

Noel Gallagher about Liam Gallagher and an Oasis reunion pic.twitter.com/rCRBvizkpg

— Liam Gallagher Fans Club (@liamgfansclub) March 21, 2023

When questioned about the statement by a French media outlet, Noel commented: “He should get his people to call my people to call my people. They know who they are. They know who we are. He’s got my manager’s number. Call us. But you know what? He won’t call. Stop talking on the f***ing internet and let’s see what you’ve got to say.”

Other fans have speculated that the duo may return to Knebworth in Hertfordshire this year for a legendary stint of live gigs, but with no healing of the rift in sight, it’s pure gossip at this point.

Digital concerts have had a varied history with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz pioneering the concept in the West and Japan’s Hatsune Miku continuing to sell out arenas in Asia. However, developments in 3D modelling technology in the last 10 years has given rise to an all new form digital concert. Perhaps most infamously, Coachella 2014 brought us Tupac resurrected and rendered in all of his early-2010s 3D glory. Although still essentially a projection on a large screen, the 2014 Coachella performance imprinted the hologram concert into the music zeitgeist. 

Fast forward ten years and we are now faced with a massive digital performance industry, whether that be entirely online events like Travis Scott’s Fortnite concert in 2020, or holographic arena shows like ABBA’s Voyage. While Voyage still works of the same technology as Tupac’s 2012 performance, all aspects of the process have been greatly improved: 3D modelling, motion capture, projection, lighting, and sound design have all been refined to a high degree in an attempt to convince the audience that they aren’t just looking at a big screen. Despite the band being as unlikely to return to the stage as Tupac, their digital renditions sold 1.4m tickets in its first year. 

Perhaps what hologram concerts need, to truly live up to their futuristic namesake, is a leap in technology. In comes Layered Reality, a UK based digital events specialist who have secured the rights to give Elvis Presley the Lazarus treatment. Layered Reality is a company that specialises in virtual reality (VR)  technology as a vehicle to tell immersive stories to participants. Although official material from Layered Reality is vague on the specifics of the Elvis experience, it appears that it will feature physical set and sound design used in combination with an augmented reality overlay (AR) viewed through a VR headset. 

In addition to this smorgasbord of technological bells and whistles, the digital Elvis will use AI models to generate new dialogue from the star. Speaking to the BBC, Layered Reality’s CEO, Andrew Guinness said: “The AI generates an authentic version of Elvis, born of original material, but it [also] allows you to do new things with him.” Much like the unofficial fan AI covers seen last year like ghostwriter977’s ‘Heart on my Sleeve’, Layered Reality will use old footage and recordings of Presley to train an AI program to mimic his voice. 

The experience is scheduled to take place in London sometime this year. Layered Reality offers a mailing list for those wanting to receive updates on specific locations and dates on their website. 

At a recent show at London’s Eventim Apollo, Hook invited a very special guest to join him in an exclusive performance. Damon Albarn, frontman of iconic Britpop band Blur and virtual band Gorillaz, joined Hook on stage to perform Gorillaz tune “Aries”. The song, which featured Hook, was released in 2020 as the third single from the album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez.

“Not long ago, I was honoured to be asked by a wonderful, very kind gentleman if I’d play with him,” Hook told the crowd on Saturday evening (October 14). “And this track is what we did, innit, Damon?”

According to setlist.fm, the performance marked the first time Hook and Albarn have played “Aries” in front of a live audience, and saw Albarn take on guitar and vocal duties for the special appearance. It’s safe to say fans were not disappointed by the iconic collaboration.

A few pictures of @peterhook last night at the @EventimApollo. Fantastic night, almost 3 hours of pure joy. Really enjoyed the support from @RebelskiMusic. Damon Albarn also made an appearance. pic.twitter.com/nbNTFda319

— britpop4ever (@DavidW010512) October 15, 2023

So tonight I saw @peterhook and The Light (with a surprise guest appearance from Damon Albarn!!!).
I was at the barrier and I could not stop smiling. Just non stop euphoria! The crowd were fantastic pic.twitter.com/9b7ir3Asd7

— Will (@WilliamD1123) October 14, 2023

Great to see @peterhook last night at the Apollo, best of both worlds Joy Division New Order

And to top it off Damon Albarn makes an appearance aswell, I’ve had worse Saturdays pic.twitter.com/JaJI7KFtoz

— Alex Murphy (@AlexMurphy_92) October 15, 2023

Hook’s show at the Eventim Apollo last weekend marked his final UK performance of 2023, however, starting on November 13th, his solo project Peter Hook & The Light will continue to tour Europe. The solo project of the legendary British bassist will also return to touring the UK in 2024. You can find tickets to the remaining dates of the tour here.

As for Damon Albarn, the singer has been on the road with his band Blur during the summer, promoting the release of the quartet’s latest studio album The Ballad Of Darren, which dropped on July 21st. The tour included two monumental shows at London’s Wembley Stadium, as well as an intimate show in Hammersmith where the band debuted songs from the new LP alongside fan favourites such as “The Universal”.

Albarn confirmed the news of his opera project on the Broken Record Podcast, sharing his plans to put Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1807 “The Magic Flute Part II” to music for the first time. He said, “I’m doing an opera at the moment, using Goethe’s fragment he wrote about The Magic Flute Part II, which is fascinating. You’ve heard of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’? Well, Goethe, who is a contemporary of Mozart, wrote ‘Part II’ of that — the sequel — but it never got put to music. It’s this legendary lost thing.”

Albarn admitted to feeling less confident when delving into the world of opera, saying, “I don’t really know what I’m doing. I never know what I’m doing in that world, I’m a complete idiot. I don’t know if it’s any good. With songs, I’m more confident about that.”

On the podcast, Albarn also confirmed that he is working more within his comfort zone by creating a new Gorillaz album.

Bon voyage, Stuart, Matlock, Rusty, and Nödel.
सुरक्षित प्रवास ✈️ pic.twitter.com/n5j6D2V160

— gorillaz (@gorillaz) June 21, 2023

Speaking on the direction that the new Gorillaz album will take, Albarn said, “It’s not going to be as dramatic as a quantum shift, it will be a paradigm shift, it will be very different. It will be an entirely different approach to everything — to the band, to everything.”

He continued, “We’re at a point where we’re going to change. Why? Because it was always just Jamie and I. Although it is a very big thing now, it is still, in essence, just two people. If we decided between us that we want to do something unrecognisable then we will. You need that for it to stay alive, really.”

Albarn has not yet confirmed release dates for either his opera or his new Gorillaz project, but has confirmed plans for Blur. Blur recently announced a special gig in which they will play their newest album, The Ballad of Darren, in full.

The show will take place at London’s Eventim Apollo on 25th July 2023 and will see the band perform the album in full for the first and only time. Physical tickets are only available to those who pre-ordered The Ballad of Darren, and are on sale from 18th July 2023. Fans can order tickets to watch a livestream of the show however, with these available to purchase here.

Listen to Albarn’s Broken Record Podcast episode here.

Another “Skinny Ape” performance is scheduled to take place on the 17th December in Time Square.

The London show will be directed by artist and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett, and Emmy-nominated Fx Goby (To Build a Fire, En Tus Brazos, Back to the Moon).  Both it and its New York counterpart are created by Nexus Studios, using Google’s ARCore Geospatial API to transform the physical performance venues.

Check out the trailer for the immersive experience, in which we catch a first glimpse of the larger-than-life animated characters roaming the city streets.

In a press release talking about the new shows, Gorillaz bassist Murdoc Niccals said, “Thanks to the techies at Google, we’ve created the music video event of the century, so don your pink robes and come see Gorillaz like you’ve never seen us before. The future is nigh!”

“Skinny Ape” is the fourth single from Gorillaz’ new album, Cracker Island, scheduled for release 24th February 2023 on Gorilaz Productions, Parlophone and Warner records.  The new album will be the eighth full studio album by the English virtual band.  The “Skinny Ape” single was debuted on Gorillaz’ 2022 World Tour, and has already become a firm favourite with fans.

The band are in good company on the album, which features contributions from Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Bootie Brown and Beck.  Eight-time Grammy-award-winning multi-instrumentalist/ singer-songwriter Greg Kurstin produced the album, along with Gorillaz and Remi Kabaka Jr.  Cracker Island’s ten tracks were recorded in London and Los Angeles earlier this year.

You can preorder the new album here, and check out the official audio for new single “Skinny Ape” below.

The new single comes with the arguably more interesting prospect of a full new Gorillaz album. The band’s 10^th LP Cracker Island is set for release on February 24^th and will feature the likes of Thundercat, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Bad Bunny, and Beck. You can look into full pre-order information, as well as the tracklist here. The album will feature the recently released Thundercat featured track ‘Cracker Island’ after it debuted earlier in the year.

Introducing Cracker Island
THE NEW ALBUM
Out February 2023
Pre-order now https://t.co/CkN1CrFP8k

@Thundercat @StevieNicks #AdeleyeOmotayo @tameimpala @bootiebrown @sanbenito @beck #crackerisland pic.twitter.com/f1UH8DG38B

— gorillaz (@gorillaz) August 31, 2022

The album comes ahead of the rumoured “Full-length Gorillaz film” we were promised by Albarn at the tail end of last year. In a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Albarn explained, “It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. It’s been through so many incarnations. Gorillaz doing a movie. Honestly. But Netflix, I don’t know. I mean, apart from the kind of running this city now, I mean – It’s just extraordinary to see how ubiquitous they are now. Yeah. They just seem like they’re a good creative team, you know? But I can’t say anything more about it, obviously, because… No, no, no.” So, with very little information revealed on the subject being revealed since… could this be the start? Or maybe just something else entirely.

Two weeks ago, saw Gorillaz play their only UK gig this year at London’s All Points East Festival. The group saw themselves topping a line-up consisting of Self Esteem, Pusha T, Idles, and Turnstile. During their set, the band performed their new single with Tame Impala as well as the usual suspects when it comes to a Gorillaz setlist – including a rare appearance from Shaun Ryder for their 2005 single ‘DARE’.