Tag: Gorillaz

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Gorillaz to play The Mountain tour warm-ups at Bradford Live on March 13 and 14, Leeds First Direct Arena awaits, March 25

The poster for Gorillaz’ warm-up shows for The Mountain Tour at Bradford Live

GORILLAZ will visit Bradford for the first time for two ”very special” warm-up shows at Bradford Live on March 13 and 14 2026. Tickets are on sale at.gigantic.com/gorillaz-tickets.

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s BRIT and Grammy-winning British band will be showcasing their ninth studio album, The Mountain, set for release on their new label, KONG, on February 27.

The brace of Gorillaz gigs at Bradford’s newly restored Art Deco building – former home to the Bradford Odeon cinema – in the 2025 UK City of Culture will precede the 11-date The Mountain Tour that will visit Leeds First Direct Arena on March 25, when Trueno will support. Tickets can be booked at gorillaz.com. Gorillaz also will play Tottenham Hotspur, London, on June 20 in a standalone summer show with Sparks and Trueno in support.

Spanning a collection of 15 songs that embody the very essence of the collaborative Gorillaz ethos, The Mountain creates a “playlist for a party on the border between this world and whatever happens next, exploring the journey of life and the thrill of existence”.  

The poster for Gorillaz’ itinerary for The Mountain Tour. Ignore the album release date at the bottom! It has definitely moved forward to February 27

The Mountain is an expansive sonic landscape of instruments and sounds, richly layered with voices, melodies and addictive beats. The list of guest artists and collaborators takes in 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, Sparks, Trueno and Yasiin Bey.

Featured too are the voices of friends and collaborators who have gone before us, including Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Dennis Hopper, Mark E Smith, Proof and Tony Allen. IDLES guest on The God Of Lying and tour support acts Trueno and Sparks on The Manifesto and The Happy Dictator respectively.

Following last year’s London run, the iconic gates of Kong – the fabled home of Gorillaz –will open in Downtown Los Angeles when a new immersive exhibition, House of Kong, opens for a limited four-week run from February 26 to March 19 2026 at Rolling Greens. For exhibition tickets, go to: houseofkong.gorillaz.com. 

The exhibition will be accompanied by Gorillaz’ shows at the Hollywood Palladium on February 22 and 23. These American dates will see Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz live band joined on stage by special guests to perform The Mountain in full, from beginning to end, all under the watchful eye of Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D. 

The cover artwork for Gorillaz’ ninth studio album The Mountain

Produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton and Remi Kabaka Jr, plus 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. The album features artists performing in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba. 

The artwork for The Mountain finds visual artist Jamie Hewlett’s distinctive, yet ever-evolving, style illustrate the world of Gorillaz with detailed and beautiful intricacy across a series of hand-drawn images that capture Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D’s time in India working on the new album, available both as a book and as a collection of 12 x12 prints. 

The track listing is:

  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)

The Mountainwill be available in various formats: Digital Download; Standard CD; Deluxe 2CD; Standard Vinyl; Hardback Book Vinyl Edition; Limited Edition Collectors Box (including art prints). Pre-order at gorillaz.ffm.to/themountain.

Jamie Hewlett’s artwork for Gorillaz at work on The Mountain

Gorillaz: back story

CREATED by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in 1998, the Gorillaz fictional line-up comprises  2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, drummer Russel Hobbs and Japanese guitar prodigy Noodle. The BRIT and Grammy-winning virtual band formed following a collision of mishaps, meetings and pure luck to blow up a pre-digital world with their colourful backstory and ground-breaking virtual ways.

Based at Kong Studios, Gorillaz settled into a life of musical innovation with a remarkable roster of collaborators, a list that includes musical legends, geniuses and future stars from Elton John to Little Simz, MF Doom to Jean-Michel Jarre, Grace Jones to slowthai, Kali Uchis to Sidiki Diabaté, and many more.

Gorillaz have eight albums to their name: Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), The Fall (2011), Humanz (2017), The Now Now (2018), Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez (2020) and Cracker Island (2023), to be followed by The Mountain on February 27 2026.

Gorillaz have achieved success in new and unique ways, touring the world from San Diego to Syria, Montevideo to Manchester, and winning numerous awards including the coveted Jim Henson Creativity Honor.

Gorillaz musician Damon Albarn. Picture: Linda Brownlee

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Damon Albarn’s dark journey to launch new album with intimate York Minster concert

The poster announcing Damon Albarn’s York Minster concert

DAMON Albarn will play York Minster in a special intimate album-launch show on December 2.

Yes, you read that right. Damon Albarn. York Minster. Intimate show. December 2.

Hurry, hurry: a gone-in-a-flash sell-out is expected when ticket bundles go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am for the Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen leader’s concert to celebrate the November 12 release of his solo studio recording The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows.

Doors will open at 6.30pm for Albarn’s first-ever York gig, organised by Leeds promoters Brudenell Presents and Leeds record store Crash Records.

“Bit of a crazy announcement…we’re incredibly proud to be teaming up with @Crash_Records to host the legendary @Damonalbarn at York Minster this December!” reads Brudenell Presents’ tweet. “Album & Ticket bundles go on-sale tomorrow via the Crash website.”

That crashrecords.co.uk website advises: “Door times 6:30pm. There will be no support and Damon will go on as soon as everyone is inside, so please be prompt so you don’t miss anything (we suggest being there for doors).

The artwork for Damon Albarn’s November 12 album, The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows

“We have set up special bundles for this release where fans can purchase an album on a format of your choice and get a ticket for this exclusive show.

“There is a limited capacity for this (14+ ages) event so we would expect all the album and ticket bundles to sell out very quickly.”

The ticket and album bundles are: CD and one ticket, £23.99, limited to four per person; vinyl LP and one ticket, £34.99, limited to two per person; one ticket only, £20, limited to one per person.

Crash Records say: “We urge you to consider buying an album bundle rather than ticket only as they only cost £3.99 more to get a CD, plus this way you are helping the artist, and the more albums we sell, the more of these exciting album launch shows we are able to put on in the future.

“Full entry requirements from the venue will be sent via email around a week before the event, so please place your order using an email you check regularly and, if possible, add boss@crashrecords.co.uk to your safe/whitelist, so it doesn’t end up in your junk/spam folder.

“Shipping is the only option for this event. Tickets and albums will be shipped out together on or just before the release date of November 12, so please ensure the address details are correct. There is No Collect At Venue or Collect In Store option. All tickets and stock will be shipped out.”

“I have been on my own dark journey while making this record,” says Damon Albarn. Picture: Linda Brownlee

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows is Albarn’s first release for his new label, Transgressive Records, with a track listing of The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows; The Cormorant; Royal Morning Blue; Combustion; Daft Wader; Darkness To Light; Esja; The Tower Of Montevideo; Giraffe Trumpet Sea; Polaris and Particles.

The CD edition will include a 20-minute “hidden” track of a new and original recording that inspired some of the record’s themes, not available on other formats.

The album originally was intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This past year, however, has seen 53-year-old Albarn return to the music in lockdown to develop the work into 11 tracks that further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth.

The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller and an album title taken from a John Clare poem, Love And Memory. “I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist,” he says.

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows will be available in a digital format, on limited-edition white vinyl, plus CD and cassette. A deluxe edition will take the form of a case-bound book with additional photography, original scanned lyrics and artwork from Albarn, alongside a white vinyl album, a high-quality digital file and a bonus 7-inch featuring an exclusive song from the recording sessions.

UPDATE

TICKETS sold out in only five minutes for Damon Albarn’s 6.30pm concert on December 2, one Tweeter even saying all tickets had gone by the time she went online at 9.42am before officially going on sale at 10am on November 5 .

A second York Minster show was duly added for 8.30pm that night, with ticket bundles on sale from 9am on November 10. Whoosh, gone too.