Gorillaz fans, get ready to climb The Mountain.
Damon Albarn and co. are preparing to release a new album, The Mountain, on March 20th, 2026 (pre-order here). The album announcement comes with lead single, “The Happy Dictator,” featuring Sparks. Listen to it below.
The Mountain will be Gorillaz’s ninth studio effort, and their first on the band’s very own new record label, KONG. The 15-track LP boasts a vast array of guest stars, including Black Thought of The Roots, Anoushka Shankar, IDLES, Johnny Marr, Jalen Ngonda, Asha Puthli, Omar Souleyman, Yasiin Bey, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, and Paul Simonon of The Clash, among them.
The album will also feature posthumous contributions from the likes of Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur (aka Trugoy the Dove of De La Soul), Proof, Dennis Hopper, Mark E Smith of The Fall, and Tony Allen.
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Produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton and Remi Kabaka Jr., plus Bizarrap, The Mountain was recorded around the world, with Damon Albarn and company hitting studios in various locations in India, including Mumbai, New Delhi, Rajasthan and Varanasi, as well as London, Ashgabat, Damascus, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. The international feel is further emphasized with the new songs featuring artists performing in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba.
As always, the album’s distinctive artwork was created by Jamie Hewlett, whose hand-drawn images of band members Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D working on the new music in India will be available both as a book and as a collection of 12×12 prints.
According to a press release, the animated musical icons are ensconced in Mumbai on fake passports after turning their backs on pop stardom, and now “immersed in the rhythms of mystical music-making, as they navigate the mountainous terrain of this thing called life.”
“As space dust we are here forever and that’s a mighty long time,” drummer Russel Hobbs explained in a press statement. “This is a musical meditation infused with light. A journey of the soul, with beats…”
The group will celebrate the new release with an arena tour of the UK and Ireland, which kicks off on March 21st, 2026, in Manchester, England, with dates in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin; plus a one-off headline show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday June 20, 2026, with support from Sparks and Trueno. See the full itinerary below.
Gorillaz recently debuted The Mountain with a special “mystery show” featuring most of the album’s cavalcade of guests on the final night of their four-show residency at London’s Copper Box Arena. The band has uploaded a video of the first night of the residency, which was a full performance of their 2001 debut album.
The Mountain Tracklist:
01. The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
02. The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought)
03. The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks)
04. The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen)
05. Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)
06. The God of Lying (feat. IDLES)
07. The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
08. The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof)
09. 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)
Gorillaz 2026 Tour Dates:
03/21 – Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
03/22 – Birmingham, UK @ bp pulse LIVE
03/24 – Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
03/25 – Leeds, UK @ First Direct Arena
03/27 – Cardiff, UK @ Utilita Arena
03/28 – Nottingham, UK @ Motorpoint Arena
03/29 – Liverpool, UK @ M&S Bank Arena
03/31 – Belfast, UK @ SSE Arena
04/01 – Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
06/20 – London, UK @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
* = w/Trueno
^ = w/Sparks and Trueno
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