Damon Albarn

Gorillaz Is Closing Out The ‘Cracker Island’ Era With Newly Announced Tour Dates Featuring Lil Yachty, Kaytranada, And More

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Gorillaz is heading back out on the road with a new four-date run announcement across the US. Titled The Getaway tour, it will mark the final dates in support of the band’s last album, Cracker Island. It also follows the group’s two Coachella weekend performances last month.

They will be joined by Kaytranada, Remi Wolf, and Lil Yachty as support on all of the dates.

Tickets will become available starting with a Live Nation presale on May 31 that opens at 10 a.m. local time. From there, the general onsale will open to the public on Friday, June 2 at the same time. More information on tickets can be found through Gorillaz’s official website.

Across the pond, band leader Damon Albarn is also playing some dates across the UK with his other band Blur — giving fans of both projects and across the globe a chance to catch his music live. (Blur is also dropping a new album, The Ballad Of Darren, as their first new release in eight years.)

For now, find the complete list of new Gorillaz tour dates below.

09/10 — Los Angeles, CA @ BMO Stadium
09/13 — Austin, TX @ Q2 Stadium
09/16 — Chicago, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
09/19 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Damon Albarn Complimented Trugoy’s ‘Generosity’ And ‘Future-Thinking Ideas’ In A Touching Tribute

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It’s ironic; as a member of De La Soul, the late Trugoy the Dove helped pioneer hip-hop’s so-called “Daisy Age,” but it’s only after he passed that he’s receiving his flowers. The latest tribute to Dave Jolicoeur comes from frequent collaborator Damon Albarn, who praised the rapper’s generosity in an audio clip shared by Dave’s bandmate Posdnous.

“I just want to talk about Dave’s generosity, I think,” Albarn says in the clip. “[He was] very generous with his spirit and he had some amazing future-taking ideas that he was able to articulate with the rest of De La Soul. In a way, they changed the paradigm so I just wanna say I miss you and love you.”

Albarn was one of De La’s greatest advocates during the time their music was not available to stream, tapping them to feature on multiple projects with his virtual band, Gorillaz, starting with “Feel Good Inc.” from 2005’s Demon Days. Most recently, they appeared on the deluxe version of Cracker Island on the song “Crocadillaz,” which was released shortly after Dave’s passing.

The group’s music is finally on streaming now, though, and after a tribute concert in their hometown to celebrate in which Plug Three, Maseo, got emotional talking about Dave’s impact, fans can also honor the pioneering rapper by running up the numbers on Stakes Is High.

Gorillaz And Bad Bunny’s ‘Tormenta’ Is A Brewing Storm Of Emotion On ‘Cracker Island’

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Cracker Island, the eighth studio from Gorillaz, is out now. Although leader Damon Albarn is open to the idea of eventually stepping down from the mantle for the right person, for the time being, the group is going to celebrate its latest release by dropping a new single, “Tormenta.”

The reggaeton and indie fusion track, whose title translates to “storm,” features one of Latin music’s biggest stars in Bad Bunny. On the outside, the credit for the crossover track belongs to Albarn’s daughter Missy and her friend Salima who introduced him to reggaeton. During an interview with The Sun’s Simon Cosyns, Albarn shared, “[Missy and Salima] grew up together and went to the Spanish school at the top of our road. So they’re attuned to Latin music and into reggaeton.”

The song chronicles the pre- and post-emotional dealings of deep romantic love. Bunny is a fierce rapper, but on “Tormenta,” his vocal abilities are the central focus as he sings, roughly translated roughly translates to, “And make the most of me today, because tomorrow I’m gone / And I don’t know when I’ll get back, if I get lost in your eyes / And make the most of mе today, because tomorrow I’m gone / And I don’t know whеn I’ll get back, if I get lost in your eyes.”

Albarn was overwhelmingly impressed by the music star’s talents, saying in the aforementioned interview, “Bad Bunny’s the real deal. He’s got one of those annoying voices, which is exactly right every time. So accurate and so consistent, it’s amazing,” before jokingly adding, “If I could sing like that, I would be the biggest artist in the world, but I can’t, so I’m not!’”

Take a listen for yourself. The full track is embedded above.

Cracker Island is out now via Parlophone. Get it here.

Gorillaz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Gorillaz Movie Canceled By Netflix

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In October 2020, Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn announced that the band had a movie in the works. The English group confirmed that they had “signed contracts” with Netflix just a year later, according to NME. With co-creator Jamie Hewlett pioneering the iconic cartoons that represent the band, the project was to be an animated movie using Gorillaz’s branded characters.

Unfortunately, Albarn confirmed in an interview with HUMO that “it will never happen.” Netflix has allegedly canceled the film due to cutbacks in the network’s animation department. The 54-year-old musician explained the situation bluntly. “The streaming platform for which we were making the film has withdrawn,” he said. “They started to panic because they were making too much content and decided to cut back on their movie offerings.”

Gorillaz’s Iconic Characters Get The Boot

Albarn continued to throw shade on the “classic Hollywood practice.” The English-Icelandic singer reflected on how the Netflix representative the band was working with had left the company. “From then on you have lost your guardian angel, and there seems to be a bad smell hanging on you,” he began. “Hollywood is quite territorial: if a new guy comes along, he must and will have a different opinion, even if he secretly agrees with his predecessor.”

When Albarn initially announced the project, he spoke with Apple Music enthusiastically. “I’m at Netflix because we’re making a full-length Gorillaz film,” he told the streaming service. “Yeah, we’re having a writing session in Malibu this afternoon. It’s really exciting to do that. It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. It’s been through so many incarnations…this Gorillaz doing a movie. Honestly.”

Gorillaz Not Giving Up, Despite Cancellation

Despite the disappointing setbacks of their movie, the band will be releasing its eighth studio album, “Cracker Island” on Friday (February 24th). Although we won’t be seeing the Gorillaz characters on our Netflix screens, the band dropped their “Silent Running” single featuring Adeleye Omotayo earlier this month. Check out the music video for that above. As always, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news on your favorite hip hop artists.

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Gorillaz And Del The Funky Homosapien Performed ‘Rock The House’ Live For The First Time Ever

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Gorillaz revved up their North American tour last week and last night at San Francisco’s Chase Center, there were a lot of surprises in store. Before the next Gorillaz album, Cracker Island, comes out in early 2023, Damon Albarn and company were churning out every possible Gorillaz classic for their 20-plus years as a band at the show. Last night’s concert was nothing short of a sermon led by Albarn, as he was joined on stage by collaborators from over the years in Bootie Brown, Pos of De La Soul, Fatoumata Diawara, Earthgang, Sweetie Irie, and in his own Bay Area backyard, Del The Funky Homosapien.

Del joined Gorillaz for “Clint Eastwood” (as can reasonably be expected), but it was the other song that the Deltron 3030 and Hieroglyphics MC performed with Gorillaz that was historic. You see, on the band’s very first album, Gorillaz, Del also appeared on the popular track “Rock The House,” co-produced by Dan The Automator (who was in the crowd and got shouted out by Albarn). But surprisingly, Del had never performed the song with Gorillaz ever before. This is despite the rapper having toured the world with Gorillaz in the past many times over. In fact, the band hadn’t even performed it with any MC since 2002.

So to the crowd’s delight, Albarn announced to the crowd that they would be, “Playing a song we’ve never played before with Del.” A three-piece horn section scurried up on stage and they laid down the signature horn opening to “Rock The House” before Del — decked out in a sleek track suit — masterfully delivered the classic Gorillaz tune. It was a vibe. One of many in the more than two hour set from Gorillaz.

Watch Del perform “Rock The House” with Gorillaz above.

Gorillaz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Gorillaz Link Up With Thundercat For The Punchy And Funky Single ‘Cracker Island’

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Back in April, Gorillaz kicked off their tour and made a splash by debuting some new music. One of the songs was a Thundercat collaboration called “Cracker Island,” and now they’ve gone ahead and shared the studio version of the track.

Thundercat’s influence on the tune is clear, as it’s a funky, punchy number, on which his rhythm and backing vocals mesh so well with the Gorillaz sound that’s always been so open to guest influence. Gorillaz also produced the song alongside Greg Kurstin and Remi Kabaka Jr.

Virtual band member 2D says of “Cracker Island,” “It’s nice to be back, I’m well into our new tune, it brings back weird and scary memories of stuff that hasn’t happened yet.”

As for the narrative behind the tune, a press release notes, “The world’s biggest virtual band have relocated to Silverlake, California where it turns out that the answer to life’s question — the one truth to fix the world — is to invite fans to join ‘The Last Cult,’ with Murdoc as its self-appointed Great Leader.”

The new song is the latest in a long line of collaborations for Thundercat, who has recently worked with Kehlani, Flying Lotus, Kaytranada, and others.

Listen to “Cracker Island” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mark Ronson, Damon Albarn, And Wale Assist Our Flying Friends With Their New Benefit Song ‘Bird Calling’

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Damon Albarn may have devoted a significant chunk of his life to gorillas (rather, Gorillaz), but they’re not the only animals he cares about: He and a bunch of other artists contributed to For The Birds: The Birdsong Project, a five-volume collection of 242 recordings inspired by birds and their singing, with proceeds benefiting the National Audubon Society.

The first volume rolled out today and among the new songs is “Bird Calling,” a collaboration between Albarn, Mark Ronson, and Wale. Ronson offers some rhythmic, midtempo production while Wale carries the song with rapped and Albarn provides the hook.

Project organizers say, “The Birdsong Project is a community dedicated to the protection of bird life, and to the celebration of the joy and mysteries of birdsong. We believe that birds — no matter feather or flock — are precious and inspiring and fundamental to our world. That a world without birds would be a world without freedom and flight and song. We believe birds matter. Are endangered. And need our help.”

Elvis Costello, who contributes to the endeavor, adds, “This should be so very obvious; without birds we would be knee-deep in worms, swarmed by bugs, the trees bereft of song. The least we can do is raise our voices in praise or lament. I’m grateful to [producer Randall Poster] for asking me to join his magnificent flock.”

Listen to Ronson, Albarn, and Wale’s “Bird Calling” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Glastonbury Is Hosting A Big Livestream Concert With Coldplay, Damon Albarn, And Others

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It was announced at the top of 2021 that Glastonbury will not be hosting a festival this year (for the second year in a row) due to the pandemic. So, while thousands of people won’t be taking to the festival grounds this summer, they can enjoy a newly announced livestream concert that organizers are hosting.

“Live At Worthy Farm” is a ticketed livestream event that is set for May 22. As the name suggests, the show will take place at Worthy Farm and will feature Coldplay, Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn, Haim, Idles, Wolf Alice, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka, DJ Honey Dijon, and other currently unannounced performers.

This news shouldn’t surprise fans who have been following Glastonbury’s goings-on in recent months. In January, festival founder Michael Eavis said he wanted to do something to mark the festival’s anniversary: I would like to do something smaller somewhere around the anniversary date of when we started, which was the 18th of September 1970. I would like to consider possibly doing something around that time.” In December, Emily Eavis also noted, “We’re actually looking into the possibility of streaming some things from here if we can’t run the full show next year. We really want to get busy with planning some gigs — even if they’re to be streamed!”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Paul McCartney Announces A Collaborative New Version Of ‘McCartney III’ With A Cover From Dominic Fike

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It appeared yesterday that a cryptic video Paul McCartney shared was teasing upcoming collaborations with Anderson .Paak, Phoebe Bridgers, Idris Elba, EOB (Ed O’Brien), Dominic Fike, St. Vincent, Damon Albarn, Beck, Khruangbin, Josh Homme, 3D RDN (of Massive Attack), and Blood Orange. Today, he has confirmed that to be the case: He is releasing a reworked version of his 2020 album, McCartney III, titled McCartney III Imagined, which features contributions from the aforementioned artists.

Tracks from the original album have been covered and/or otherwise reimagined by the guest artists and McCartney kicked things off today by sharing Fike’s rendition of “The Kiss Of Venus,” which he transformed from an acoustic ballad to an R&B jam.

During a Reddit AMA from December, McCartney cited Fike and other artists involved in McCartney III Imagined as modern performers he listens to, writing, “I’m lucky, I have a friend who sends me new music which helps me keep in touch with the modern scene. So I listen to people like Dominic Fike, Beck, St Vincent and Khruangbin. I also listen to a lot of classic oldies coming through, from rock n’ roll to 60’s to soul to R’n’B, with a sprinkling of classical music now and then.”

Listen to Fike’s “The Kiss Of Venus” cover above and check out the McCartney III Imagined art and tracklist below.

Capitol Records

1. “Find My Way (feat. Beck)”
2. “The Kiss Of Venus (Dominic Fike)”
3. “Pretty Boys (feat. Khruangbin)”
4. “Women And Wives (St. Vincent Remix)”
5. “Deep Down (Blood Orange Remix)”
6. “Seize The Day (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)”
7. “Slidin’ (EOB Remix)”
8. “Long Tailed Winter Bird (Damon Albarn Remix)”
9. “Lavatory Lil (Josh Homme)”
10. “When Winter Comes (Anderson .Paak Remix)”
11. “Deep Deep Feeling (3D RDN Remix)”
12. “Long Tailed Winter Bird (Idris Elba Remix)”*

* physical release exclusive track

McCartney III Imagined is out 4/16 via Capitol Records. Pre-order it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.