When Gorillaz dropped politically-charged new track “Hallelujah Money” the night before the presidential inauguration, Damn Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s animated crew raised the bar for 2017. Two months later, they up the ante once again by releasing four — count ’em, four — new jams in advance of the April 28 release of new LP Humanz.
And while the quartet of new tracks are pure Gorillaz, the collaboration list makes it feel like some sort of mass effort.
As heard in the videos below, Vince Staples features on “Ascension,” Savages’ Jehnny Beth lends force to “We Got the Power” (Update: It appears Noel Gallagher is here on backing vocals, too), “Saturnz Barnz” includes Popcaan, and D.R.A.M. cuts loose on “Andromeda.”
There’s a wide spectrum of sound at play here, and it only furthers the urgency of this new LP, a reportedly 26-track whopper that’s positioned as one of the most anticipated of 2017. It’s hard to ever say waiting for something for six years is ever worth it, but Humanz just might be.
Dive in.