Gorillaz - The Mountain Review
Another year, another new album by the well-oiled and shapeshifting music machine, Gorillaz! The love child of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist Damon Albarn and visual artist Jamie Hewlett, who draws and animates all four virtual band members, Gorillaz has had an illustrious and successful career in their nearly 30 years of music making, which is full of standout guest features and a colorful carousel of genres. Having recruited a third permanent member, producer and percussionist Remi Kabaka Jr, who has also been the voice of band member Russel, this trio has been knocking it out of the park ever since their 2017 album, my personal favorite, Humanz, and again with their follow up, 2018's The Now Now, which I wrote about at the time. Nearly a decade and several stacked albums later, Gorillaz are back with The Mountain, full of deep themes, a short film, an art book, and more musical styles to share.