The Gorillaz are Back, Album Coming

By Trevor Durham on October 7, 2016

Two weeks ago, Gorillaz accounts popped up on Instagram and Twitter. A year and a half ago, artist Jamie Hewlett posted sketches of the band members aged since we last saw them in Plastic Beach. Yesterday, we heard word, no doubt Murdoc’s doing- the Gorillaz are back.

Through a sequence of posts leading up to the announcement, hype has been building since they began a timeline of their music history leading to a mysterious 2016 date. Yesterday, somebody posted a sequence of images and story-boards titled The Book of Noodle. The Book detailed Noodle’s adventures since the DoYaThing video and eviction, leading to her return to the group. Today, The Book of Russel was posted, explaining Russel’s imprisonment in North Korea, his loss of radioactive size, and return to Murdoc. The crazed story days of Demon Days are here, the canon of the fictional band in full swing, and nobody knows what comes next. David Bowie supposedly will be featured on their new album.

The Book of Russel Cover

The history of the Gorillaz is possibly the most inventive tale ever strung. Through music videos, television appearances, word of mouth rumor, websites (and their collapses), studio appearances, live shows, a biography, and more, the tale of 2D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel is one you’ll spend long nights following. I became one of the first people to string together a majority of the narrative, found here for the first part and here for the second (I highly recommend reading these posts, old fan or new), but it appears a Phase 4 is beginning after the dramatic fizzle-out of Plastic Beach and the schism created by The Fall. Phase 3 was a disaster, following perhaps one of the greatest periods in performative music history (Phase 2, Demon Days, and Rise of the Ogre are genius).

The Slowboat to Hades has arrived, and it’s time to get on-board.

Information on the new album is scarce, with no information on a title, cover art, song list, or even a release date. All we now is that it’s going to be excellent.

The Book of Noodle Cover

For more updates, follow Gorillaz on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or keep checking in with us. You can sure expect a Book of 2D and a Book of Murdoc in the next couple days, but beyond that? I got sunshine in a bag, I’m useless- but not for long. The future is coming on.

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