In a 2012 interview, Albarn talked about the unlikelihood of any future Gorillaz releases; his relationship with Hewlett had soured when Albarn chose to undercut the role of animation on their "Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour". Albarn later rescinded this claim, stating "When Jamie and I have worked out our differences, I'm sure we'll make another record." On 23 March 2017, the fifth Gorillaz studio album, "Humanz", was announced and released worldwide on 28 April 2017. The sixth Gorillaz album, "The Now Now", was announced on 31 May 2018 and released on 29 June 2018. In 2020, Gorillaz began a project called "Song Machine", in which new songs with collaborations would be released as monthly "episodes".