"A project you might reasonably have assumed was a jokey one-off on the part of a Britpop star has instead lasted a quarter of a century, long enough for Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's concept of a virtual group to seem less like a snarky gag at the expense of manufactured pop than oddly commonplace: their latest release is launched into a world where cartoon K-pop bands Huntr/x and Saja Boys have collectively spent 100 weeks and counting on the UK singles chart."
"Gorillaz albums are seldom concise affairs and are of variable quality, thus tricky to navigate. The best ones are those unified by a strong underlying concept, as on Demon Days' glum survey of the world in a state of night post-9/11, or the ecological satire of 2010's Plastic Beach."
"The Mountain, inspired in equal parts by a visit to India and the deaths of Albarn and Hewlett's fathers. Both seem reflected in the choice of guests. There are a host of Indian artists, from playback singer Asha Bhosle and eccentric space-disco diva Asha Puthli to a range of traditional musicians, including Anoushka Shankar."
Gorillaz has evolved from a seemingly one-off joke concept into a quarter-century spanning project that now appears prescient rather than satirical, as virtual and AI-generated artists have become commonplace in contemporary music. The band's nine albums feature approximately 100 guest artists, creating an eclectic catalog that ranges from Carly Simon to Bad Bunny. While Gorillaz albums are often sprawling and variable in quality, the strongest entries maintain unified conceptual frameworks. Their latest album, The Mountain, achieves this cohesion through dual inspiration: Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's visits to India and the deaths of their fathers. The album incorporates numerous Indian musicians and traditional instruments, including sitar, tambura, and bansuri, creating a spiritually resonant work that reflects on mortality and cultural exploration.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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