The thrill of Gorillaz, the British “cartoon band,” collaborating with Sparks, the eclectic American alternative pop duo, is the stuff of pure fantasy for the edgier music fans among us.
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Late owls got a taste of the real thing on Thursday night, April 9, when those two worlds collided for a performance of “The Happy Dictator,” the lead single from Gorillaz’s ninth studio album The Mountain, via the band’s own new label KONG.
Every Gorillaz performance raises the question of just how Damon Albarn and Co. would realize the animations that are so important to the band’s visual storytelling. In the early days, the characters 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle were splashed on a big screen, the band members performing incognito behind it.
For their performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jamie Hewlett’s lovable illustrations took a back seat for the humans, Albarn playing the happy dictator in military threads, aviator glasses and a red beret.
The Mountain climbed the U.K. chart peak in March of this year, for Gorillaz’ third leader. On the other side of the Atlantic, Gorillaz swung to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart for the fourth time.
Produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton and Remi Kabaka Jr., plus Bizarrap (Orange County), The Mountain was recorded at Studio 13 in London and Devon, various locations in India including Mumbai, New Delhi, Rajasthan and Varanasi, as well as Ashgabat, Damascus, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. The collection features an impressive lineup of collaborators, including Sparks, and songs performed in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba.
Gorillaz continue The Mountain Tour of the U.K. and Europe tour in June, with a schedule that includes festival spots and a one-off headline show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, June 20, for the band’s biggest show in their homeland to-date, with support from Sparks and Trueno. Dates are booked through January 2027.
Watch the late night performance below and check out Gorillaz’ tour dates here.
