Gorillaz have finally announced their first new album in six years. As revealed on their Instagram, it's called Humanz and it's out April 28. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett collaborated with an all-star cast on the album, including Grace Jones, Mavis Staples, Danny Brown, De La Soul, Pusha T, Kali Uchis, Kelela, Vince Staples, Jehnny Beth from Savages, D.R.A.M., Popcaan, Jamie Principle, Kilo Kish, Anthony Hamilton, Peven Everett, and Zebra Katz. Earlier this year, Gorillaz released “Hallelujah Money,” featuring Benjamin Clementine. They also announced their first show since 2010, headlining their own festival. Earlier today, four tracks appeared listed on TIDAL. Albarn is set to premiere new music on BBC Radio 1 later this afternoon. The release date and full tracklist haven't been announced yet.
Speculation about a Gorillaz return heated up in September when the group created an Instagram account, complete with a career-spanning timeline. It followed Damon Albarn’s July 2015 promise that he was recording new music for the project. Speaking about the album later that year, Albarn said: “So far, it’s really fast, and it’s got quite a lot of energy. I’ve been stuck on piano, somewhere off Broadway, for years now. I want to go somewhere completely opposite of that.”
More recently, Gorillaz cartoon member Noodle was revealed as the new global ambassador for Jaguar Racing. The band also rolled out out a series of visual stories following the various cartoon members of the band: “The Book of Noodle,” “The Book of Russel,” “The Book of Murdoc,” and “The Book of 2D.”
Revisit our 2014 interview with Damon Albarn here.
