Gorillaz’s new album, The Mountain, arrived last month
Gorillaz and Sparks joined forces for a performance of “The Happy Dictator” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The track comes off Gorillaz’s most recent album, The Mountain, which was released Feb. 27 via their own Kong label.
The theatrical performance featured Sparks’ singer Russell Mael sharing vocals with Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn, dressed in a dictator-themed ensemble. The bands were joined by four back-up singers as animated imagery of Gorillaz played on the screen behind them.
While Gorillaz are well-known for their collaborations, every track on The Mountain finds the group working alongside at least one other musician (and often a few more than that). The features include the Roots’ Black Thought, Johnny Marr, former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, as well as celebrated Indian musicians like flautist Ajay Prasanna and sarod player Amaan Ali Bangash.
“It’s kind of the next one after Plastic Beach, really,” Albarn told Rolling Stone, referencing the group’s 2010 release that brought together Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, and half of the Clash. “It’s an entire world itself.”
The album includes several posthumous features from artists Gorillaz has worked with in the past, including Bobby Womack, the Fall’s Mark E. Smith, legendary drummer Tony Allen, and actor Dennis Hopper. “In the original piece of paper, the original Gorillaz Manifesto written in 1999 by Jamie and I when we were sharing a flat, the character of Russel was able to bring forth the voices of dead musicians,” Albarn explained.
Gorillaz recently performed on Saturday Night Live and will bring their The Mountain tour to the U.S. this fall. They’ll be hitting major cities, starting with Orlando in September, before running through the East Coast and Midwest and wrapping up the U.S. leg on Oct. 31 in Seattle.
