All signs are pointing to use having new Gorillaz music soon. Earlier this year, Damon Albarn indicated the band would have a new album out in 2025. Then, in August, after announcing a four-night concert residency that included a mystery show, Albarn suggested that performance would feature some new music.
It sure did feature new music. It went down in London yesterday (September 3) and it saw the band debut a whole new album.
It was a phone-free concert, so there is no fan-shot footage of it circulating. Per setlist.fm, though, the band played 12 songs. The titles of most of them are unknown, but we have some reported names: “The Happy Dictator” with Sparks, “Fresh Arrivals” with Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey, and “The Sad God” with The Roots’ Black Thought and Kara Jackson.
Other guests included Idles’ Joe Talbot, Johnny Marr, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Paul Simonon, Ajay Prasanna, Trueno, and Anoushka Shankar.
As NME notes, some in attendance shared their positive thoughts about the new music online. One wrote, “The soundscape of this album is like nothing I’ve ever heard from this band, it’s absolutely breathtaking. There is a track that had me sobbing 10 seconds in, Almost perfect album. Gorillaz really outdid themselves with this one.” Another said, “The album was heavy on Indian tunes. The orchestra was quite large: four strings, four backing vocalists, three Indian instruments, etc.”
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