Gorillaz Creation and early years (1990-99) What led to the band's creation? The idea to create Gorillaz came about when Albarn and Hewlett were watching MTV. How did MTV give them the idea? "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell - there's nothing of substance there. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? The band originally identified themselves as "Gorilla"
What made them change to Gorillaz?
What made the band change from Gorilla to Gorillaz?
Musician Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett met in 1990 when guitarist Graham Coxon, a fan of Hewlett's work, asked him to interview Blur, a band Albarn and Coxon had recently formed. The interview was published in Deadline magazine, home of Hewlett's comic strip Tank Girl. Hewlett initially thought Albarn was "arsey, a wanker"; despite becoming acquaintances with the band, they often did not get on, especially after Hewlett began seeing Coxon's ex-girlfriend Jane Olliver. Despite this, Albarn and Hewlett started sharing a flat on Westbourne Grove in London in 1997. Hewlett had recently broken up with Olliver and Albarn was at the end of his highly publicised relationship with Justine Frischmann of Elastica.  The idea to create Gorillaz came about when Albarn and Hewlett were watching MTV. Hewlett said, "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell - there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that." The band originally identified themselves as "Gorilla" and the first song they recorded was "Ghost Train" which was later released as a B-side on their single "Rock the House" and the B-side compilation G Sides. The musicians behind Gorillaz' first incarnation included Albarn, Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator and Kid Koala, who had previously worked together on the track "Time Keeps on Slipping" for Deltron 3030's eponymous debut album.  Although not released under the Gorillaz name, Albarn has said that "one of the first ever Gorillaz tunes" was Blur's 1997 single "On Your Own", which was released for their fifth studio album Blur. CANNOTANSWER
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Gorillaz are an English virtual band created in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London, England. The band primarily consists of four animated members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums). Their fictional universe is presented in music videos, interviews and short cartoons. Gorillaz' music often features collaborations with a wide range of featured artists, with Albarn as the only permanent musical contributor.

With Gorillaz, Albarn departed from the distinct Britpop of his band Blur, exploring a variety of musical styles including hip hop, electronic music and world music through an "eccentrically postmodern" approach. The band's 2001 debut album Gorillaz, which featured dub, Latin and punk influences, went triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in Europe, with sales driven by the success of the album's lead single "Clint Eastwood". Their second studio album, Demon Days (2005), went six times platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US and spawned the successful lead single "Feel Good Inc.". 

The band's third album, Plastic Beach (2010), featured environmentalist themes, a synth-pop approach and an expanded roster of featured artists. Their fourth album, The Fall (2010), was recorded on the road during the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour and released on 25 December 2010. During 2015, Remi Kabaka Jr. became a music producer for the band after more than 10 years providing the voice of Russel and was credited as such alongside Albarn and Hewlett in the official 2019 documentary Gorillaz: Reject False Icons. The band's fifth album, Humanz, was released after a seven-year hiatus on 28 April 2017. Their sixth album, The Now Now (2018), featured stripped-down production and a greater musical focus on Albarn. Gorillaz' latest project is Song Machine, a music-based web series with episodes that consist of standalone singles and accompanying music videos featuring different guests each episode, resulting in their seventh album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (2020).

Gorillaz has presented itself live in a variety of different ways throughout the band's history, such as hiding the touring band from the audience's view in the early years of the project, projecting animated band members on stage via computer graphics and traditional live touring featuring a fully visible live band. The band have sold over 25 million records worldwide and are cited by Guinness World Records as the world's "Most Successful Virtual Band". They have won a Grammy Award, two MTV Video Music Awards, an NME Award and three MTV Europe Music Awards. They have also been nominated for 11 Brit Awards and won Best British Group at the 2018 Brit Awards.

History

Creation (1990–1999)

Musician Damon Albarn and comic artist Jamie Hewlett met in 1990 when guitarist Graham Coxon, a fan of Hewlett's work, asked him to interview Blur, which Albarn and Coxon had recently formed. The interview was published in Deadline magazine, home of Hewlett's comic strip Tank Girl. Hewlett initially thought Albarn was "arsey, a wanker;" and despite becoming acquaintances with the band, they often did not get on, especially after Hewlett began seeing Coxon's ex-girlfriend Jane Olliver. Despite this, Albarn and Hewlett started sharing a flat on Westbourne Grove in London in 1997. Hewlett had recently broken up with Olliver and Albarn was at the end of his highly publicised relationship with Justine Frischmann of Elastica.

The idea to create Gorillaz came about when Albarn and Hewlett were watching MTV. Hewlett said, "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell – there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a virtual band, something that would be a comment on that." Albarn recalled the idea similarly, saying "This was the beginning of the sort of boy band explosion... and it just felt so manufactured. And we were like, well let's make a manufactured band but make it kind of interesting." The band originally identified themselves as "Gorilla" and the first song they recorded was "Ghost Train", which was later released as a B-side on their single "Rock the House". The band's visual style is thought to have evolved from The 16s, a rejected comic strip Hewlett conceived with Tank Girl co-creator Alan Martin.

Although not released under the Gorillaz name, Albarn has said that "one of the first ever Gorillaz tunes" was Blur's 1997 single "On Your Own", which was released for their fifth studio album Blur.

Gorillaz (2000–03)

From 1998 to 2000, Albarn recorded for Gorillaz' self-titled debut album at his newly opened Studio 13 in London as well as at Geejam Studios in Jamaica. The sessions resulted in the band's first release, the EP Tomorrow Comes Today, released on 27 November 2000. This EP consisted mostly of tracks which later appeared on the album, and it also included the band's first music video for "Tomorrow Comes Today", which introduced the virtual band members for the first time.

With Gorillaz, Albarn began to branch out into other genres which he had not explored with Blur, such as hip-hop, dub and Latin music, a process he described as liberating: "One of the reasons I began Gorillaz is I had a lot of rhythms I never thought I could use with Blur. A lot of that stuff never really seemed to manifest itself in the music we made together as Blur."  Albarn originally began work on the album by himself, however eventually invited American hip-hop producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura to serve as producer on the album, explaining "I called Dan the Automator in after I'd done more than half of it and felt it would benefit from having somebody else's focus. So I just rang him and asked whether he was interested in helping me finish it off." Nakamura and Albarn had recently collaborated on Deltron 3030, the debut album by the hip-hop supergroup of the same name featuring rapper Del the Funky Homosapien and DJ Kid Koala, both of whom Nakamura recruited to assist in finishing Gorillaz material. Del featured on two tracks on the album, including the lead single "Clint Eastwood", while Kid Koala contributed turntables to various tracks. The album featured additional collaborations with Ibrahim Ferrer of Buena Vista Social Club, Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, representing a pattern of collaboration with a wide range of artists which later became a staple of Gorillaz as a project.

Gorillaz was released on 26 March 2001 and was a major commercial success, debuting at #3 on the UK Albums Chart and #14 on the US Billboard 200, going on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide, powered by the success of the "Clint Eastwood" single. The album was promoted with the singles "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000" and "Rock the House", in addition to the previously released "Tomorrow Comes Today", with each single featuring a music video directed by Hewlett starring the virtual members. Hewlett also helmed the design of the band's website, which was presented as an interactive tour of the band's fictional "Kong Studios" home and recording studio, featuring interactive games and explorative elements. Following the release of the album, the band embarked on a brief tour of Europe, Japan and the United States to support the album in which a touring band featuring Albarn played completely obscured behind a giant screen on which Hewlett's accompanying visuals were projected. The virtual band member's voice actors were also present at some shows and spoke live to the audience to give the impression that the fictional band was present on stage. In later interviews, Albarn described the band's first tour as difficult due to the limitations imposed by the band playing behind a screen: "For someone who had just spent the last ten years out front being a frontman [with Blur], it was a really weird experience. And I have to say, some nights I just wanted to get a knife and just cut [the screen] and stick my head through." The album was followed by the B-sides compilation G-Sides released in December 2001.

On 7 December 2001, the band released the single "911" a collaboration with hip hop group D12 (without Eminem) and singer Terry Hall of the Specials about the September 11 attacks.  At the 2002 Brit Awards the virtual members of Gorillaz "performed" for the first time, appearing in 3D animation on four large screens along with rap accompaniment by Phi Life Cypher, a production which reportedly cost £300,000 to create. The band were nominated for four Brit Awards, including Best British Group, Best British Album and British Breakthrough Act, but did not win any awards.

On 1 July 2002, a remix album titled Laika Come Home was released, containing most of the tracks from Gorillaz remixed in dub and reggae style by the DJ group Spacemonkeyz. On 18 November 2002, the band released the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down, which contained all of the band's released visual content up to that point along with other extras.

After the success of the debut album, Albarn and Hewlett briefly explored the possibility of creating a Gorillaz theatrical film, but Hewlett claimed the duo later lost interest: "We lost all interest in doing it as soon as we started meeting with studios and talking to these Hollywood executive types, we just weren't on the same page. We said, fuck it, we'll sit on the idea until we can do it ourselves, and maybe even raise the money ourselves."

Demon Days (2004–07)

Albarn spent the majority of 2003 on tour with Blur in support of their newly released album Think Tank; however, upon completion of the tour, he decided to return to Gorillaz, reuniting with Hewlett to prepare for a second album. Hewlett explained that the duo chose to continue Gorillaz to prove that the project was not "a gimmick": "If you do it again, it's no longer a gimmick, and if it works then we've proved a point." The result was Demon Days, released on 11 May 2005. The album was another major commercial success, debuting at No. 1 on the UK Albums Charts and #6 on the US Billboard 200, and has since gone six times platinum in the UK, double platinum in the United States, and triple platinum in Australia, outperforming sales of the first album and becoming the band's most successful album to date. The album's success was partially driven by the success of the lead single "Feel Good Inc." featuring hip-hop group De La Soul, which topped Billboard'''s Alternative Songs chart in the U.S. for eight consecutive weeks and was featured in a commercial for Apple's iPod. The album was also supported by the later singles "Dare", "Dirty Harry", and the double A-side "Kids with Guns" / "El Mañana".Demon Days found the band taking a darker tone, partially influenced by a train journey Albarn had taken with his family through impoverished rural China. Albarn described the album as a concept album: "The whole album kind of tells the story of the night — staying up during the night — but it's also an allegory. It's what we're living in basically, the world in a state of night." Believing that the album needed "a slightly different approach" compared to the first album, Albarn enlisted American producer Brian Burton, better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, to produce the album, whom Albarn praised as "one of the best young producers in the world" after hearing his 2004 mashup album The Grey Album. Burton felt he and Albarn had a high degree of affinity with each other, stating in an interview on the creation of the album: "We never had any arguments. We even have that finish-each-other's-sentences thing happening. There are a lot of the same influences between us, like Ennio Morricone and psychedelic pop-rock, but he has 10 years on me, so I have some catching up to do. Where he can school me on new wave and punk of the late ’70s/early ’80s, I can school him on a lot of hip-hop. We’re very competitive and pushed each other." Similar to the first album, Demon Days features collaborations with several different artists, including Bootie Brown, Shaun Ryder, Ike Turner, MF Doom (who was recording with Danger Mouse as Danger Doom at the time) and Martina Topley-Bird, among others.

 The band chose to forgo traditional live touring in support of Demon Days, instead limiting live performance during the album cycle to a five night residency in November 2005 at the Manchester Opera House billed as Demon Days Live. The concerts saw the band performing the album in full each night with most featured artists from the album present. Unlike the debut album's tour, the touring band was visible on stage in view of the audience but obscured by lighting in such a way that only their silhouettes were visible, with a screen above the band displaying Hewlett's visuals alongside each song. The residency was later repeated in April 2006 at New York City's Apollo Theater and the Manchester performances were later released on DVD as Demon Days: Live at the Manchester Opera House.

The virtual Gorillaz members "performed" at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2005 and again at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2006, appearing to perform on stage via Musion Eyeliner technology. Albarn later expressed disappointment at the execution of the performance, citing the low volume level required so as to not disturb the technology: "That was tough... They started and it was so quiet cause they've got this piece of film that you've got to pull over the stage so any bass frequencies would just mess up the illusion completely." At the Grammys, the band won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Feel Good Inc.", which was also nominated for Record of the Year. Albarn and Hewlett explored the idea of producing a full "live holographic tour" featuring the virtual Gorillaz appearing on stage with Munsion Eyeliner technology after the Grammys performance, but the tour was ultimately never realised due to the tremendous expense and logistical issues that would have resulted.

In October 2006, the band released the book Rise of the Ogre. Presented as an autobiography of the band ostensibly written by the fictional members and expanding on the band's fictional backstory and universe, the book was actually written by official Gorillaz script writer and live drummer Cass Browne and featured new artwork by Hewlett. Later the same month, the band released another DVD, Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades, compiling much of the band's visual content from the album cycle. A second B-sides compilation, D-Sides was released in November 2007, featuring B-sides and remixes associated with Demon Days as well as unreleased tracks from the sessions for the album. In April 2009, the documentary film Bananaz was released. Directed by Ceri Levy, the film documents the behind-the-scenes history of the band from 2000 to 2006.

Plastic Beach and The Fall (2008–13)

Albarn and Hewlett's next project together was the opera Monkey: Journey to the West based on the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West, which premiered at the 2007 Manchester International Festival. While not officially a Gorillaz project, Albarn mentioned in an interview that the project was "Gorillaz, really but we can't call it that for legal reasons".

After completing work on Monkey in late 2007, Albarn and Hewlett began working on a new Gorillaz project entitled Carousel, described by Albarn as being about "the mystical aspects of Britain". Hewlett described Carousel in a 2008 interview as "even bigger and more difficult than Monkey... It's sort of like a film but not with one narrative story. There's many stories, told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles. Originally it was a film but now we think it's a film and it's a stage thing as well. Damon's written around 70 songs for it, and I’ve got great plans for the visuals." The Carousel concept was eventually dropped with Albarn and Hewlett's work evolving into the third Gorillaz studio album Plastic Beach.

Drawing upon environmentalist themes, Plastic Beach was inspired by the idea of a "secret floating island deep in the South Pacific... made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity" inspired by marine pollution such as plastic that Albarn had found in a beach near one of his homes in Devon as well as the Great Pacific garbage patch. Unlike previous Gorillaz albums, Albarn made the decision to produce Plastic Beach by himself, with no co-producer. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and 2009 in London, New York City and Syria although production of the album was briefly interrupted so that Albarn could join Blur for a reunion tour in the summer of 2009, with Albarn explaining "there's no way you can do that and that [Blur and Gorillaz] at the same time." Plastic Beach saw Gorillaz move into a more electronic pop sound, with Albarn describing the album as "the most pop record I've ever made" and saying that he took special care to make the album's lyrics and melodies clear and focused compared to previous albums. Plastic Beach also featured the largest cast of collaborators featured yet on a Gorillaz album, fulfilling Albarn's goal of "work[ing] with an incredibly eclectic, surprising cast of people"  including artists such as Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Little Dragon, Lou Reed and Gruff Rhys among others, and also included orchestral contributions from Sinfonia Viva and the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra. Albarn explained the expanded roster of featured artists represented his and Hewlett's new vision of Gorillaz as a project, explaining in a July 2008 interview that "Gorillaz now to us is not like four animated characters any more – it's more like an organisation of people doing new projects... That's my ideal model."

Released on 3 March 2010, Plastic Beach debuted at #2 on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200 chart, the band's highest placing debut chart position. The album was supported by the lead single "Stylo" featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack released in January 2010 and the later singles "On Melancholy Hill" and "Rhinestone Eyes". To promote the album, the band embarked on the Escape to Plastic Beach Tour, the band's first world tour and also their first live performances in which the touring band performed fully in view of the audience on stage with no visual obstructions. The tour, which featured many of the collaborative artists from Plastic Beach and saw the touring band wearing naval attire, was later described by Albarn as having been extremely costly to produce, with the band barely breaking even on the shows, saying "I loved doing it, but economically it was a fucking disaster." The tour was preceded by headline performances at several international music festivals, including the Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. On 21 November 2010, while still on tour, the band released the non-album single "Doncamatic" featuring British singer Daley.

During the North American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach tour in the fall of 2010, Albarn continued recording Gorillaz songs entirely on his iPad. The recordings were later released as the album The Fall, first released digitally on Christmas Day 2010 and later given a physical release on 19 April 2011. The Fall is also co-produced by Stephen Sedgwick, the mixer engineer of the band. Albarn said the album served as a diary of the American leg of the tour, explaining that the tracks were presented exactly as they were on the day they were written and recorded with no additional production or overdubs: "I literally made it on the road. I didn't write it before, I didn't prepare it. I just did it day by day as a kind of diary of my experience in America. If I left it until the New Year to release it then the cynics out there would say, 'Oh well, it's been tampered with', but if I put it out now they'd know that I haven't done anything because I've been on tour ever since." The band later released a "Gorillaz edition" of the Korg iElectribe music production app for iPad, featuring many of the same samples and sounds used by Albarn to create The Fall.

On 23 February 2012, Gorillaz released "DoYaThing", a single to promote a Gorillaz-branded collection of Converse shoes which were released shortly after. The song was a part of Converse's "Three Artists, One Song" project, with the two additional collaborators being James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and André 3000 of Outkast.  Two different edits of the song were released: a four-and-a-half minute radio edit released on Converse's website and the full 13-minute version of the song released on the Gorillaz website. Hewlett returned to direct the single's music video, featuring fictionalized animated versions of Murphy and André interacting with the Gorillaz' virtual members. The song received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise given to André 3000's contributions to the track.

In April 2012, Albarn told The Guardian that he and Hewlett had fallen out and that future Gorillaz projects were "unlikely". Tension between the two had been building, partly due to a belief held by Hewlett that his contributions to Gorillaz were being minimised. Speaking to The Guardian in April 2017, Hewlett explained: "Damon had half the Clash on stage, and Bobby Womack and Mos Def and De La Soul, and fucking Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Bashy and everyone else. It was the greatest band ever. And the screen on stage behind them seemed to get smaller every day. I'd say, ‘Have we got a new screen?’ and the tour manager was like, ‘No, it's the same screen.’ Because it seemed to me like it was getting smaller." Albarn gave his side of the story in a separate interview, saying "I think we were at a cross purposes somewhat on that last record [Plastic Beach], which is a shame. It was one of those things, the music and the videos weren't working as well together, but I felt we'd made a really good record and I was into it." On 25 April 2012, in an interview with Metro, Albarn was more optimistic about Gorillaz' future, saying that once he had worked out his differences with Hewlett, he was sure that they would make another record. In June 2013, Hewlett confirmed that he and Albarn planned to someday continue Gorillaz and record a follow-up album to Plastic Beach, saying "We'll come back to it when the time is right."

Hiatus and Humanz (2014–17)

Following the release of DoYaThing and the publicization of Albarn and Hewlett's fall-out in 2012, Gorillaz entered a multiyear hiatus. During the hiatus, Albarn released a solo album, Everyday Robots, scored stage productions and continued to record and tour with Blur, while Hewlett held art exhibitions and attempted to create a film project which was ultimately never realized. While on tour in support of Everyday Robots in 2014, Albarn signaled openness to returning to Gorillaz, telling The National Post that he "wouldn't mind having another stab at a Gorillaz record". Two months later he reported that he had "been writing quite a lot of songs on the road for Gorillaz". and at the end of 2014 confirmed in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that he was planning to record another Gorillaz album. Speaking about his relationship with Hewlett, Albarn said that the pair's well-publicised fall-out had helped their relationship in the long term. Hewlett described the moment when he and Albarn agreed to continue Gorillaz at an afterparty after one of Albarn's solo shows in 2014: "We'd had a bit to drink, and he said, 'Do you want to do another one?' And I said, 'Do you?' and he said, 'Do you?' And I said, 'Yeah, sure.' I started work on it straight away, learning to draw the characters again. I played around by myself for eight months while he was performing with Blur in 2015."

Recording sessions for the band's fifth studio album Humanz began in late 2015 and continued through 2016, taking place in London, New York City, Paris and Jamaica. Albarn enlisted American hip-hop and house producer Anthony Khan, known by his stage name the Twilite Tone, to co-produce the album. Albarn chose Khan from a list of possible producers compiled by Parlophone, the band's record label after Albarn and Khan spoke via Skype. Humanz was also co-produced by Remi Kabaka Jr., a friend of Albarn's who had worked with him in the non-profit musical organization Africa Express and also has been the voice actor for the Gorillaz virtual band member Russel Hobbs since 2000. In conceptualizing the album, Albarn and Khan envisioned Humanz as being the soundtrack for "a party for the end of the world", with Albarn specifically imagining a future in which Donald Trump won the 2016 U.S. presidential election as context for the album's narrative (Trump becoming president was still considered an unlikely event at the time of recording), explaining "Let's use that as a kind of dark fantasy for this record, let's imagine the night Donald Trump wins the election and how we're all going to feel that night." Khan stated that "The idea of Donald Trump being president allowed us to create a narrative together. I suggested that the album should be about joy, pain and urgency. That was to be our state of mind before we even touched a keyboard or an MPC. Especially in American music, dare I say black music, there's a way of communicating joy that at the same time allows you to feel the struggle the person has been through. And the urgency is there because something needs to be done. So that was the mantra. I wanted to blend Damon, a Briton, with the joy and pain and struggle that African-American music can express." Humanz again featured a large cast of featured artists, including Popcaan, Vince Staples, DRAM, Jehnny Beth, Pusha T, Peven Everett, Danny Brown, Grace Jones and Mavis Staples, among others. The first track from the album released publicly was "Hallelujah Money" featuring Benjamin Clementine, released on 20 January 2017 with an accompanying video featuring Clementine. While not an official single, Albarn explained that the band chose to release the track on the day of Trump's inauguration because "It was meant to be something sung at the imaginary inauguration of Donald Trump, which turned out to be the real inauguration of Donald Trump, so we released it because we had imagined that happening and it did happen."Humanz was released on 28 April 2017, the band's first new studio album in 7 years. Featuring a "modern-sounding urban hip-hop/R&B sensibility", the album debuted at #2 on both the UK Album charts and the US Billboard 200. Humanz received generally positive reviews from critics, although received some criticism from fans and critics for what was perceived as a diminished presence from Albarn in contrast to the abundance of featured artists. The album was released in both standard and deluxe editions, with the deluxe edition featuring an additional 6 bonus tracks and was promoted by the lead single "Saturnz Barz" featuring Popcaan and the later single "Strobelite" featuring Peven Everett. The Hewlett-directed music video for "Saturnz Barz" made use of YouTube's 360-degree video format and reportedly cost $800,000 to create.

The band embarked on the Humanz Tour to support the album from the summer of 2017 to early 2018. Like the band's previous tour, the Humanz Tour featured the touring band in full view of the audience with a large screen behind them displaying Hewlett-created visuals and featured several of the different collaborative artists from the band's history. The tour was preceded by a handful of European warm-up shows, including the first Demon Dayz Festival held on 10 June 2017 at the Dreamland Margate theme park, a Gorillaz curated music festival which was later repeated in Los Angeles in October 2018.  On 8 June 2017 the band released the non-album single "Sleeping Powder" with an accompanying music video and on 3 November 2017 a "Super Deluxe" version of Humanz, featuring an additional 14 unreleased tracks from the album's sessions, including alternative versions of previously released songs as well as the single "Garage Palace" featuring Little Simz.

The Now Now (2018–19)

Albarn continued recording while on the road during the Humanz Tour, and mentioned in an interview with Q Magazine in September 2017 that he was planning on releasing the material as a future Gorillaz album. Comparing the production of the album to The Fall, which was also recorded while the band was on tour, Albarn mentioned that "It will be a more complete record than The Fall, but hopefully have that spontaneity." Albarn signaled his desire to complete and release the album quickly, adding that "I really like the idea of making new music and playing it live almost simultaneously" and "If we're going to do more Gorillaz we don't want to wait seven years because, y'know, we're getting on a bit now. The band later debuted a new song "Idaho", which was later included on the album, at a concert in Seattle on 30 September 2017 with Albarn saying it had been written in the days prior.

During a break in the Humanz Tour in February 2018, Albarn returned to London where he worked with producer James Ford, known for his work with Arctic Monkeys and Florence and the Machine, and Kabaka Jr. to finish the newly written material, resulting in the band's sixth studio album The Now Now released on 29 June 2018. Featuring "simple, mostly upbeat songs" and 1980s new wave influences, the album was noted for its distinctly small list of featured artists compared to previous Gorillaz work, with only two tracks featuring any outside artists (the album's lead single "Humility" featuring George Benson and "Hollywood" featuring Snoop Dogg and Jamie Principle). Albarn mentioned that the few numbers of featured artists was partially due to the album's quick production, which in turn was a result of Albarn wanting to finish the album before the band's touring schedule resumed: "We've been very lucky to be offered all the festivals this year on the back of the last record [Humanz]... but I didn't want to do that unless I had something new to work with, so the only option was to make another record really quickly and not have lots of guests on it, because that takes a long time to organize; just do it all myself, really." Albarn also explained that with The Now Now he sought to make a Gorillaz album "where I'm just singing for once" and that the album is "pretty much just me singing, very sort of in the world of 2-D."

 In the fictional Gorillaz storyline, the band introduced Ace from Cartoon Network's animated series The Powerpuff Girls as a temporary bassist of the band during The Now Now album cycle, filling in for the imprisoned Murdoc Niccals. Explaining the crossover in an interview with the BBC, Albarn said "We were massive fans of The Powerpuff Girls when they came out, the energy of that cartoon was really cool, and we kind of know the creator of it (Craig McCracken). It was a very organic thing."

The band's remaining 2018 live dates were billed as The Now Now Tour to support the album, and included a performance in Tokyo on 22 June 2018 billed as "The Now Now World Premiere" in which the band played the full album live for the first and only time, a performance which was later broadcast by Boiler Room. On 16 December 2019, the documentary Gorillaz: Reject False Icons was screened worldwide on a one-day theatrical release. Filmed and directed by Hewlett's son Denholm, the documentary showcases a behind-the-scenes look at the production of Humanz and The Now Now as well as the album's associated tours. One week after the film's theatrical release, a "Director's Cut" version of the film featuring additional footage was released on the official Gorillaz YouTube channel in three parts. In the credits for Reject False Icons, Kabaka Jr. was listed as an official member of the band (labeled as "A&R/Producer") alongside Albarn and Hewlett for the first time.

Song Machine project and  Meanwhile EP (2020–present)

On 29 January 2020, the band announced its new project, Song Machine. Eschewing the typical album format of releasing music, Song Machine is instead a web series that sees the band releasing one new song a month as "episodes" to the series, with 11 episodes releasing to comprise the first "season". Elaborating on the idea behind Song Machine in a radio interview shortly after the announcement of the project, Albarn explained that "We no longer kind of see ourselves as constrained to making albums. We can now make episodes and seasons." Each episode features previously unannounced guest musicians on new Gorillaz material, with the first being "Momentary Bliss", which was released on 31 January and features both British rapper Slowthai and the Kent-based punk rock duo Slaves.

Upon the premiere of "Momentary Bliss", Albarn revealed that the group had been in the studio with Schoolboy Q and Sampa the Great among others, although he did say that these songs were likely to be saved for future episodes of Song Machine. The group also teased a possible collaboration with Australian band Tame Impala on Instagram.

On 27 February, the band released the second episode of Song Machine entitled "Désolé". The song features Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. The third episode, "Aries", released on 9 April and featured Peter Hook and Georgia. The fourth track "How Far?" featuring Tony Allen and Skepta was released 2 May. This song was released without an accompanying music video as a tribute to Allen, who died on 30 April.

On 26 May, Gorillaz announced the release of a new book titled Gorillaz Almanac. The book comes in three editions: standard, deluxe and super deluxe, all of which are set to release on 23 October but has since been delayed to 22 December with a physical release of season one of Song Machine included with each copy.

On 9 June, the band released "Friday 13th", the fourth episode of Song Machine. The track features French-British rapper Octavian.

On 20 July, the band released "Pac-Man", the fifth episode of Song Machine, in honour of Pac-Man's 40th anniversary. The track features American rapper Schoolboy Q.

On 9 September, the band released "Strange Timez", the sixth episode of Song Machine. The track features Robert Smith, from the Cure. Gorillaz also announced the title and tracklist for Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, released on 23 October 2020, featuring further guest appearances from Elton John, 6lack, JPEGMafia, Kano, Roxani Arias, Moonchild Sanelly and Chai, among others.

On 1 October, the band released "The Pink Phantom", the seventh episode of Song Machine. The track features Elton John and American rapper 6lack.

Before the release of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, Gorillaz started a radio show on Apple Music called Song Machine Radio where each virtual character has a turn to invite special guests and play some of their favourite tunes.

A few days from the release of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, Albarn confirmed that the band already has a song for Season Two of Song Machine prepared for release, and also mentioned that the second part of the project will be released earlier than expected.

On 5 November, the band released "The Valley of the Pagans", the eighth episode of Song Machine. The track features American singer Beck. The music video is somewhat notorious for being the first major studio production filmed in Grand Theft Auto V. The video ends with a reference to previous album, Plastic Beach. For unknown reasons, the music video on the official Gorillaz YouTube channel was set to private just a few days after its initial premiere. On 9 March 2021, Gorillaz uploaded an alternative version of the music video to their official YouTube channel, which does not feature any gameplay from Grand Theft Auto V.

On 24 December, the band released "The Lost Chord", the ninth and final episode of the first season of Song Machine. The track features British musician Leee John.

On 26 March 2021, the band celebrated its debut album's 20th anniversary with oncoming reissues of their catalog and teases of non-fungible tokens; due to its impact on climate change, the latter was met with criticism by various sources and fans—some noting that the act contradicts the environmental themes of Plastic Beach. The band also announced a boxset, the G Collection, containing six of their studio albums—excluding The Fall—for Record Store Day.

On 10 August 2021, Gorillaz debuted three new songs, "Meanwhile" (featuring British rapper Jelani Blackman), "Jimmy Jimmy" (featuring British rapper AJ Tracey), and "Déjà Vu" (featuring Jamaican-British singer Alicaì Harley), during a free concert at The O2 Arena in London, England exclusively for National Health Service employees and their families. They then performed them again at the subsequent concert open to the public the next day (both of which served as the first live audience concerts of the Song Machine Tour). These three songs were announced to be tracks from a new EP entitled Meanwhile, with the cover originally published on TikTok.

On 17 September 2021, Albarn revealed that he had recorded a new Gorillaz song with Bad Bunny while in Jamaica, and it will be the first single for a new album, influenced by Latin America, releasing next year.

Style and legacy

Writers and critics have variously described Gorillaz as art pop, alternative rock, hip hop, electronic, trip hop, pop, dark pop, alternative hip hop, rap rock, indie rock, bedroom pop, dance-rock, new wave, funk, worldbeat, and experimental rock. The band's aesthetic and general approach has been described as postmodern. According to AllMusic, Gorillaz blend Britpop and hip-hop, while The Guardian described the band as "a sort of dub/hip-hop/lo-fi indie/world music hybrid". According to PopMatters, the band's early work foreshadowed "the melding of hip-hop, rock, and electronic elements in pop music" that grew in significance in the next decade. 
Gorillaz’ main musical influences include Massive Attack, the Specials, Big Audio Dynamite, Public Image Ltd, Tom Tom Club, Fun Boy Three, Unkle, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul, as well as The Human League, The Kinks, XTC, Simple Minds, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Ween, Portishead, Beck, Wire, Fela Kuti, Sly and the Family Stone, Earth Wind and Fire, Augustus Pablo, Zapp, and DJ Kool Herc. Gorillaz’ primary visual influences include Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes, Mad magazine, The Simpsons, 2000 AD, and Métal hurlant (Heavy Metal). Furthermore, Hewlett has also cited European artists such as Carl Giles, Ronald Searle, Moebius, Tanino Liberatore, Mike McMahon, and Brendan McCarthy. The idea for Gorillaz was inspired by the many cartoon bands that came before them in the 1960s such as the Banana Splits, the Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, and Alvin and the Chipmunks, and real bands with fictional stage personas like ABC (circa How to Be a ... Zillionaire!) and Silicon Teens.Charts of Darkness. Dazed Film & TV (2001)

Musical artists who have been influenced by Gorillaz include Major Lazer, Dethklok, Rat Boy, Chromeo, Flume, Foster the People, The 1975, 5 Seconds of Summer, Awolnation, Paramore, Grimes, Kesha, A.G. Cook, Finneas, Oliver Tree, Flatbush Zombies, Vic Mensa, IDK, Trippie Redd, The Internet, ASAP Rocky, Lupe Fiasco, Brockhampton and Odd Future. Gorillaz have also influenced animated series such as The Amazing World of Gumball, Glitch Techs, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Motorcity, Tron: Uprising, Teen Titans, and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, as well as video games like Borderlands, Sunset Overdrive, No Straight Roads, Battlefield, and League of Legends.

Gorillaz have collaborated with a number of brands, including Motorola, O2, Internet Explorer 9, Converse, and Jaguar Cars. They have also been featured in fashion magazines such as Maxim, Nylon, and Numéro. The band's use of the internet and digital media for promotion as early as 2000 has been touched on in retrospective reviews for being ahead of its time. Dazed magazine has summarised Gorillaz's impact as "completely reinvent[ing] the notion of what a band could be".

Members

Virtual members
 Murdoc Niccals – bass, drum machine (1998–present; hiatus 2018)
 2-D – vocals, keyboards (1998–present)
 Noodle – guitar, keyboards, vocals (1998–2006; 2010–present)
 Russel Hobbs – drums, percussion (1998–2006; 2012–present)

Former virtual members
 Paula Cracker – guitar (1998)
 Cyborg Noodle – guitar, vocals (2008–10)
 Ace – bass (2018)

Virtual members timeline

Touring members

Touring members timeline
Studio contributors
 Damon Albarn – vocals, instrumentation, songwriting, production, executive production (1998–present)
 Jamie Hewlett – songwriting, executive production, artwork, character design, video direction, visuals, FX (1998–present)
 Stephen Sedgwick – mixing, engineering, production (2004–present)
 Remi Kabaka Jr. – songwriting, production, percussion, drum programming (2015–present)
 John Davis – mastering, engineering (2015–present)
 Samuel Egglenton – assistance, engineering (2015–present)

Former studio contributors
Excluding small appearances by touring members.

 Junior Dan – bass (1998–2001)
 Jason Cox – production, percussion, drum programming, mixing, bass, additional guitars (1998–2010)
 Simon Tong – additional guitar (2004–10)
 Howie Weinberg – mastering, engineering (2004–10)
 Mick Jones – guitars (2008–11)
 Paul Simonon – bass (2008–11)
 James Ford – instrumentation, songwriting, production (2018–20)

Studio contributors timeline

Discography

Studio albums
 Gorillaz (2001)
 Demon Days (2005)
 Plastic Beach (2010)
 The Fall (2010)
 Humanz (2017)
 The Now Now (2018)
 Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'' (2020)

Tours
 Gorillaz Live (2001–2002)
 Demon Days Live (2005–2006)
 Escape to Plastic Beach Tour (2010)
 Humanz Tour (2017–2018)
 The Now Now Tour (2018)
 Song Machine Tour (2021–2022)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

 
 
 
 Gorillaz at Youtube

 
Animated musical groups
Recorded music characters
Musical groups established in 1998
English electronic music groups
English alternative rock groups
Electronica music groups
Trip hop groups
Fictional musical groups
English indie rock groups
Dance-rock musical groups
English hip hop groups
Rap rock groups
Alternative hip hop groups
British world music groups
English pop music groups
Brit Award winners
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Parlophone artists
Virgin Records artists
Warner Records artists
1998 establishments in England
Bands with fictional stage personas
Warner Music Group artists
Art pop musicians
Virtual influencers
Song Machine is an audiovisual project by British virtual band Gorillaz. It is a music video web series consisting of a collection of music videos and singles that are released monthly by the band as episodes of the series, with each episode featuring additional guests. Each episode is released with accompanying interludes called "Machine Bitez", a series of skits consisting of short conversations and interviews with Song Machines guests from Gorillaz' virtual band members. The project was officially launched on 30 January 2020. Season one of Song Machine consists of 9 episodes and was released as an album titled Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez on 23 October 2020. A second season was previously announced in 2020, though a release date has not been set.

Background

Premise
Song Machine centers around the adventures of British virtual band Gorillaz and the various events they experience through their haunted headquarters at a newly revamped and relocated Kong Studios, which contains various portals through which the band visit the guests and transport them to Kong, while recording music for their newest project, Song Machine.

Episodes of Song Machine are accompanied by short segments called "Machine Bitez", a series of character skits featuring snippets of conversations and interviews with Song Machines guests from Gorillaz' virtual band members. Some episodes take on an interview format between 2-D and a Song Machine collaborator, while others involve the Gorillaz band members discussing the production and process of creating the music or the events that took place in an episode.

Characters

2-D (voiced by Kevin Bishop) – The lead vocalist and keyboardist of Gorillaz. Gorillaz' actual co-founder Damon Albarn provides 2-D's singing voice. 
Murdoc Niccals (voiced by Phil Cornwell) – The bassist and leader of Gorillaz. 
Noodle (voiced by Haruka Abe) – The lead guitarist and occasional backup vocalist of Gorillaz. 
Russel Hobbs (voiced by Remi Kabaka Jr.) – The drummer and percussionist of Gorillaz.

Setting
Song Machine is mainly set in Gorillaz' haunted headquarters at Kong Studios, relocated to West London from its original location in West Sussex. In Song Machine, Kong Studios contains various portals that can teleport Gorillaz to various locations across the world. The characters will sometimes refer to these portals as a Phantom Tollbooth, in reference to the 1970 film and 1961 book of the same name. More often than not, these portals are used to gather guests for Song Machine, but have been used for other purposes as well. In "Aries", the band are transported through the portal to the North African country of Morocco for a race. This version of Kong Studios, like the previous incarnation, is subject to paranormal activity, the most prominent example being The Pink Phantom from the episode of the same name. This version of Kong Studios is based on Gorillaz' recording studio at Studio 13, which was created in 1998 by Damon Albarn for he and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett to produce their material. Studio 13 was originally going to be a part of the main setting of Gorillaz during Humanz, where Gorillaz were going to record material in a fictional replica of Studio 13 that was set next to it called Studio 14.

Production
Song Machine began production in summer of 2019, with "Momentary Bliss" being the first episode produced. All episodes of Song Machine are produced by Gorillaz Productions, a production company formed by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett that has been used since the 2019 Gorillaz documentary Reject False Icons to produce and release new material.  As with other media, Song Machines production was mildly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with work on the series continuing to be done remotely through e-mails and Zoom sessions, starting with "Strange Timez".

Music
According to Albarn, the original idea for Song Machines music was for there to be two collaborators recording with Gorillaz for a track on separate floors at Studio 13, without hearing either of each other's contributions. Song Machine eventually became an album, but this was not Albarn and Hewlett's original intention and they initially created Song Machine to be purely episodic, with Albarn stating that listening to the album was "like listening to an entirely different entity". Albarn has stated that Song Machine was created because he became tired of the typical six-month time period that making an album takes. While older guests for Song Machine are mainly chosen by Albarn and Hewlett, younger guests are chosen by Gorillaz drummer Remi Kabaka Jr., an official non-virtual member of the band since Humanz. Albarn says of the album version of season one, "It's one of the best albums I've ever made. It’s really strong because every tune has that single intention to it. To make an album of singles is such a rigorous pursuit you don't normally do it – but accidentally, we have." Albarn has also mentioned that there will eventually be a season two, and that it could possibly begin as early as February 2021, with seasons potentially being released back to back. Music from season one of Song Machine features additional co-production from  Mike Will Made It, Prince Paul, James Ford, P2J, Mike Dean, Robert Smith, Joan As Police Woman, and Marzeratti. As per Gorillaz' usual approach, Song Machine explores a multitude of different musical genres, thus far including  punk rock, hip-hop, R&B, bossa nova, reggae, synth-pop, electronic, acid house, and downtempo.

Animation
Song Machine is directed by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett and produced by UK-based animation studio The Line, being co-directed by animators Tim McCourt and Max Taylor, who previously worked on the music video for "Humility". The videography and camera work on the episodes "Momentary Bliss" and "Désolé" are provided by Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn's daughter Missy Albarn along with Hewlett. The episodes are edited by Hewlett himself. Song Machine was originally inspired by 60s children's series like The Banana Splits, and by the binge-watching format of online streaming services. Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett has mentioned that the art style for Song Machine was inspired by the artwork for the first Gorillaz album, which was inspired by classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons and Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones. As per Gorillaz' usual visual approach, Song Machine blends various styles of animation with live-action. While Gorillaz themselves appear in Song Machine in their usual two-dimensional animated form, guests are generally filmed in live-action and episodes are typically set in a live-action or CGI environment. Elton John has been the only guest on Song Machine to appear in animated form. Song Machine was originally going to be set around Kong Studios (Studio 13) with the animation of the characters added into filmed footage of Song Machines recording sessions, but this was later made impossible after work had to be done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Hewlett ran out of Studio 13 footage. This caused Hewlett to change the setting of the storyline for Song Machine, starting with "Strange Timez" being set in space. "The Valley of the Pagans" was created using the director mode of Grand Theft Auto V.

Release
On 28 January 2020, the band officially released images via social media teasing a concept entitled Song Machine. A 23-second promotional single entitled "Song Machine Theme Tune" was released on streaming services with an accompanying video. On 29 January 2020, the first "Machine Bitez" was posted on YouTube and music streaming services. Song Machine'''s first episode, "Momentary Bliss" officially premiered on YouTube on 30 January 2020, and the single was subsequently released on music streaming platforms. After the premiere, additional "Machine Bitez" featuring interviews with "Momentary Bliss" collaborators Slowthai and Slaves by Gorillaz' virtual frontman 2-D were also uploaded to YouTube and music streaming services. A limited edition art print and additional merchandise was then put up for sale on Gorillaz' online shop following the episode's premiere. Each episode of Song Machine is proceeded by a 10-second snippet teasing the next episode. Episode three, "Aries", ends with a snippet followed by a brief message from Gorillaz virtual band member 2-D informing viewers to stay safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Damon Albarn and Remi Kabaka Jr. spoke to BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac for the official premiere of the series, with Albarn saying that Song Machine "may have an obtuse narrative arc at the end of each season, but it's more Ozark, than Designated Survivor. You just keep going until you run out of ideas." He also revealed that the group had been in the studio with Schoolboy Q and Sampa the Great among others, although he did say that these songs were likely to be saved for future series of Song Machine. The group also teased a possible collaboration with Australian band Tame Impala on Instagram. A press release was put out to explain Song Machine further, with virtual Gorillaz member Russel Hobbs saying: "Song Machine is a whole new way of doing what we do, Gorillaz breaking the mould 'cos the mould got old. World is moving faster than a supercharged particle, so we've gotta stay ready to drop. We don't even know who's stepping through the studio next. Song Machine feeds on the unknown, runs on pure chaos. So whatever the hell's coming, we're primed and ready to produce like there's no tomorrow."

On 9 September 2020, during the premiere of "Strange Timez", it was announced that Song Machine was going to be released as a full studio album called Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez with eleven tracks (seventeen on the deluxe edition), featuring guest appearances from artists such as Elton John, Robert Smith, Peter Hook, Beck, St. Vincent, Schoolboy Q, Octavian, 6lack, JPEGMafia, Chai, and various others. In an interview with Albarn on 15 October 2020, he revealed that he planned for season two to begin in the future, hinting at a possible February 2021 window, and expressing excitement for the potential of more seasons being recorded and released "back to back". However February did not see season two being released.

Promotion
On 12 September 2019, Gorillaz began posting a series of postcards attributed to the characters to their social media pages, with each postcard from a different part of the world, mentioning a machine and asking if the others were ready to start it. They would later begin to post a series of playlists attributed to each character on Spotify entitled “Wish You Were Ear”, and later another series of character-attributed Spotify playlists themed around a fictional festival called the Maydeup Festival, with an imaginary poster featuring a fake lineup for the festival made for the playlists. On 26 November 2019, Gorillaz put a set of holiday merchandise featuring the characters in a new look up for sale on their official online store. Afterwards, "Song Machine Theme Tune" was posted on the band's social media pages on 28 January 2020 and the series made its premiere two days later.

"Momentary Bliss" was accompanied by the first in a series of threads on Gorillaz band member Murdoc's official Twitter account called "Debunked With Murdoc Niccals", where Murdoc interacted with fans on Twitter to questions about episodes of the series. This lasted until the episode "Aries".  On 7 April 2020, Gorillaz announced "Get Lost with Gorillaz", a series of fictional telegrams following the characters and the activity they've partaken in while social distancing during quarantine. A series of behind-the-scenes footage called "NoodleCam" which featured seconds long behind-the-scenes clips of the Song Machine sessions interspersed with a still image of Noodle were published on the band's Instagram stories and accompanied the release of each episode up until "Pac-Man". When Song Machine episodes are premiered live on YouTube, there are usually appearances from the characters in the live chat and comments section of the episodes. An online driving game based on "Aries" was published to Gorillaz' official website on 4 September 2020.Song Machine went on a two month long hiatus after the release of "Pac-Man". Leading up to the premiere of "Strange Timez", the band began posting a series of recaps of previous episodes on social media and uploading lyric videos of the previous episodes on YouTube soon afterwards. On 15 October 2020, the band began posting snippets of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez cassette editions online, starting with Noodle's.

 Episodes 
Season 1 (2020)

ReceptionSong Machine has been noted by critics for its unique approach to releasing music.

Brian Hillsman of The Cosmic Clash gave Song Machine a positive review and called it the band's best work, saying of the project "As Song Machine gradually releases to the public, it will certainly morph into an addiction, a cultural phenomenon that will have listeners hooked and eagerly awaiting each successive episode.". Grit Daily's Justin Shamlou described the series as “a unique audiovisual project” with “a distinctly utilitarian ethos”, noting that “The success of this project relies on fan satisfaction and buzz. It also eliminates the middle man to a certain degree.”. Affinity Magazine called Song Machine one of Gorillaz' most ambitious projects to date, saying that it's "a testament to their unique take on the music industry". Meanwhile, DIY Mag calls Song Machine "the greatest new music TV series going".

Related media
BookGorillaz Almanac is a graphic novel based on Gorillaz published in partnership with comic book publisher Z2 Comics. Announced on 26 May 2020 via social media, Gorillaz Almanac is set for release in December 2020. Inspired by the famous British hardcover annual of the same name, Gorillaz Almanac contains over 200 pages, featuring extra content such as comic strips, new and old artwork, puzzles, games, and special guest appearances from various Gorillaz collaborators from throughout the years. Gorillaz Almanac comes in three editions: standard edition, deluxe edition, and super deluxe edition. The deluxe edition of the Gorillaz Almanac was limited to 6,666 copies and includes four additional art prints and a sticker sheet signed by the characters, while the super deluxe edition was limited to 200 copies and comes in a unique package signed by Jamie Hewlett. Each edition of Gorillaz Almanac comes with a physical copy of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez standard edition on CD.

AlbumSong Machine, Season One: Strange Timez is a studio album by Gorillaz that contain the eleven episodes of the Song Machine web series as tracks on the album, plus several bonus tracks. The bonus tracks for the album are tracks that will not be released as episodes of the web series. A physical copy of the Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez standard edition will also be included with all copies of the upcoming Gorillaz graphic novel Gorillaz Almanac. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez comes in various editions, and will be released on CD, vinyl, and cassette. The deluxe vinyl edition of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez comes with three 12" art prints, a 20-page hardback art book with original art by Jamie Hewlett, and a Song Machine CD. The exclusive super deluxe vinyl box set includes eleven 7" singles with instrumentals and eleven 12" art prints, as well as a music box that plays "Song Machine Theme Tune". Four exclusive cassette editions featuring alternate track list orders were made only available on the official Gorillaz store, with each cassette attributed to a different Gorillaz character.

Radio show
On 16 October 2020, the band announced a broadcast radio show on Apple Music named Song Machine Radio with Gorillaz, which premiered on 19 October 2020. Song Machine Radio with Gorillaz is a monthly hour-long four-part Apple Music program hosted by the characters, with each episode featuring personalized music selections, special guests appearances and various discussions. The series also contains segments featuring Gorillaz co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, and provides hands-on information regarding the making of Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez.

TourSong Machine was first played live through a set of three international virtual live gigs called Song Machine Live. Officially announced on 17 September 2020, Song Machine Live first broadcast on 12 December 2020, with the performance live streamed across three different time zones. Song Machine Lives first performance was broadcast to Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on 8 pm JST, with its second being for North & South America and starting at 4 pm PST, with its final being set for broadcast to Europe, United Kingdom, and Africa at 7 pm GMT, all of which are broadcast live from London, UK. The concert was performed by the Gorillaz live band in Kong Studios and featured augmented reality appearances from the characters as they were shown in previous Song Machine episodes. They have also announced dates in 2021 for festivals such as Rock Werchter and Splendour in the Grass. On 18 October 2020, an interview with Albarn revealed that Song Machine Live will eventually show Gorillaz' virtual members performing on stage with the live band members, with the performances switching focus back and forth between the two throughout them. On October 23, 2020, Gorillaz announced the Song Machine Tour in support of season one, set to begin in June 2021.

Film
In an interview with Gorillaz by Music Week, it was revealed that another potential Gorillaz film was in the works, but no further details were given. This is not the first mention of a Gorillaz movie since the band's return. In an issue of Le Parisie on 2 July 2018, Hewlett mentioned wanting his next project to be "probably a full-length movie about my characters". In a 2018 interview with The Sunday Times, Hewlett mentioned that the next Gorillaz project would "probably take the form of a TV show or film" and be something more related to the characters than the music. On 18 October 2020, Albarn confirmed a deal was made with Netflix for a feature length Gorillaz film following season two of Song Machine, saying "Season two will be with you sooner than you think. And then, obviously we've got a movie with Netflix". In an October 2020 interview with Albarn from Sette, he states of the film, "It will arrive on Netflix: one hour of pure fiction with music. We are now evaluating the first script." In an interview with Alt 105.3, Albarn states of the film, "We signed contracts, we've begun scripts and stuff. Making an animated film that's kind of abstract is quite a big risk for a movie studio because they're very expensive. If you're telling a slightly obtuse story that only sometimes makes any sense, it's quite difficult. That's what we've discovered.".

MerchandiseSong Machine has had various merchandise produced for it since "Momentary Bliss" premiered on 30 January 2020. The merchandise for Song Machine is usually a limited edition art print, t-shirt, or sticker sheet that is released on the official online Gorillaz store with the premiere each episode. On 26 November 2019, a month before Song Machine was officially launched, a set of limited edition holiday merchandise featuring artwork of the characters as they appear on the Song Machine'' title card was released.

References

2020 singles
Album series
Gorillaz albums
Parlophone albums
Albums recorded at Studio 13
Warner Records albums
Albums produced by Damon Albarn

2020 web series debuts
Adult animated web series
British animated web series
Gorillaz Spacemonkeyz are a musical group consisting of Darren Galea, Richie Stevens and Gavin Dodds. They came together when Galea created a dub remix of the Gorillaz' "Tomorrow Comes Today" ("Tomorrow Dub", which was released as a B-side on the "Tomorrow Comes Today" single), which Gorillaz founder Damon Albarn liked so much that he asked Galea to remix the whole album Gorillaz. The resulting album, Laika Come Home, was released in July 2002. The album's first and only single "Lil' Dub Chefin'" reached #73 on the UK Singles Chart.

They also wrote an original song with Taiwanese singer Stanley Huang, "Spacemonkeyz Theme", which appeared as a B-side on "Lil' Dub Chefin'", and did a remix of the Herbert Grönemeyer single "Mensch". Darren Galea performed turntables as part of the Gorillaz live band on all of the 'Gorillaz' & 'Demon Days' Live dates between 2000 and 2006.

Like the Gorillaz, they are a virtual band (though not to the degree that Gorillaz are). According to the fictional Gorillaz biography Rise of the Ogre, the group is an actual team of monkeys used in space tests who had stolen the tracks from an unattended Kong Studios and remixed them without Gorillaz's permission.

Since the release of Laika Come Home the band has not released any new material.
On the Hallelujah Monkeyz podcast Richie Stevens announced that new Spacemonkeyz material will be releasing soon.

Discography

Albums
2002: Spacemonkeyz vs Gorillaz – Laika Come Home

Singles
2002: Spacemonkeyz vs Gorillaz – "Lil' Dub Chefin'"
2002: Herbert Grönemeyer – "Mensch" (Spacemonkeyz Remix)

References

External links
Space Monkeyz profiles on the official Gorillaz homepage

British electronic music groups
Musical groups established in 2002
British musical trios
Parlophone artists
Virgin Records albums
Gorillaz
2002 establishments in the United Kingdom