- 2025-09-12
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MUSIC
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Gorillaz Announces New Album “The Mountain”, Premieres New Song “The Happy Dictator” featuring Sparks on BBC Radio 1
British virtual band Gorillaz, consisting of virtual: Murdoc Niccals (bass), 2-D (vocal), Noodle (guitar) and Russel Hobbs (drums), Non-virtual: Damon Albarn (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Jamie Hewlett and Remi Kabaka Jr. (drums), has announced their upcoming ninth studio album “The Mountain” will be released on Mach 20, 2026.
This marks their first album in three years since the 2023 album “Cracker Island”. Also it is the first release under their own new label KONG.
The album comprises 15 tracks in five languages, featuring guest appearances from 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.
It also has the voices of late legends Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Dennis Hopper, Mark E. Smith, Proof, and Tony Allen.
From the album, the band premiered a new song “The Happy Dictator” on BBC Radio 1's New Music Show with Jack Saunders.
On the track, the band teamed up with American pop-rock duo Sparks.
It was written by Damon Albarn, Ronald Mael, and Russell Mael. Produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, and Remi Kabaka Jr.- The band frontman Damon Albarn told Jack Saunders about the song, “It comes from an album that is in touch 'The Mountain' and is in five languages. English, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish and Yoruba. I mean, that tune finds its origins in a trip I took a few years ago with my daughter to Turkmenistan.”
He continued, “We started doing this sort of thing where we go to countries that not necessarily anyone would think of visiting. And started when she was 18. We went to North Korea anyway. So now we do this thing, where we go off. So Turkmenistan was last year. And the thing about Turkmenistan. They had a dictator. And the word dictator is quite a loose, generic and sort of description of someone who kind of likes everything his own way. This is so, it's got very current kind of sort of references within it, the song. But the the point of 'The Happy Dictator' is that turban Bashi wanted everyone in Turkmenistan to only think happy thoughts and sleep unaffected by the sort of the doom of the world and just keep everything upbeat. So he kind of banned all bad news, no more bad news. And that really struck me when I was there, I was very inspired by that. Sort of half terrifying and half well, actually. It'd be really nice, if there was I lived in a world where there was no more bad news.” -
He said of the album, “I mean, we spent quite a lot of time in India with this record. I suppose it is leaning into Indian culture. But I wouldn't say it's an exclusively Indian record. But we have worked some amazing musicians from India and singers, but also an amazing young rapper called Trueno from Argentina. Sparks, a lot of amazingly talented people.”
He continued, “If you can put in five languages, is quite ambitious on one record. But I don't think it feels like it's a barrier to enjoying it, because you kind of understand where everyone's coming from within those languages. Anyway, just put those ear things in you better understand it. I think again, I probably I've sort of invested in the future.” - source : BBC Radio 1
