After six years of radio silence, Gorillaz have returned to hit you from all sides. They’ve officially announced that their fifth album, Humanz, will drop on April 28, and it’s a 19-song whopper (that’s including the deluxe version) that features too many collaborators to count, from Mavis Staples to Grace Jones to Vince Staples to Carly Simon to D.R.A.M., and even interludes from Ben Mendelsohn. You’ve heard their anti-Trump song “Hallelujah Money†— that’s on the album, too — and, according to an interview on BBC Radio 1 with Damon Albarn, it was loosely inspired by Trump. “Imagine the weirdest unpredictable thing happening that changes everything about the world. How will you feel on that night? … We were imagining Donald Trump. That was our dark fantasy and it became reality, but the album’s not about Trump. It’s a party record, it’s a club record. It’s got a weird darkness to it,†Albarn said.
That darkness seeps through on the virtual band’s new 360-degree short film Saturnz Barz (Spirit House), which features their new song “Saturnz Barz†with Popcaan as well as, um, a trippy talking pizza. To go along with this Gorillaz news dump, you can also listen to three other new Humanz songs — “Andromeda†ft. D.R.A.M., “Ascension†ft. Vince Staples, and “We’ve Got the Power†ft. Savages’ Jehnny Beth and in an uncredited appearance, also Oasis’s Noel Gallagher, of all people — some of which leaked over the weekend, and yet it’s still the best surprise.
Here’s the full track list:
1. Ascension feat. Vince Staples
2. Strobelite feat. Peven Everett
3. Saturnz Barz feat. Popcaan
4. Momentz feat. De La Soul
5. Submission feat. Danny Brown & Kelela
6. Charger feat. Grace Jones
7. Andromeda feat. D.R.A.M.
8. Busted and Blue
9. Carnival feat. Anthony Hamilton
10. Let Me Out feat. Mavis Staples & Pusha T
11. Sex Murder Party feat. Jamie Principle & Zebra Katz
12. She’s My Collar feat. Kali Uchis
13. Hallelujah Money feat. Benjamin Clementine
14. We Got The Power feat. Jehnny Beth
Bonus material on deluxe version:
15. The Apprentice feat. Rag’n’ Bone Man, Zebra Katz & RAY BLK
16. Halfway to the Halfway House feat. Peven Everett
17. Out of Body feat. Kilo Kish, Zebra Katz & Imani VonshÃ
18. Ticker Tape feat. Carly Simon & Kali Uchis
19. Circle of Friendz feat. Brandon Markell Holme
With interludes narrated by Ben Mendelsohn.