Gorillaz Share New Single ‘The Manifesto’

The track is taken from The Mountain, Gorillaz’s follow-up to 2023’s Cracker Island, and features collaborations with Sparks, Yasiin Bey, Johnny Marr of the Smiths and more.

Image Jamie Hewlett

As the rollout for Gorillaz’s upcoming ninth album The Mountain continues, the band have released the album’s second single, ‘The Manifesto’.

Following the release of ‘The Happy Dictator’, the latest track from Damon Albarn and co features verses from Latin Grammy-winning Argentine rap star Trueno and the late rapper Proof, who was a member of D12.

The track explores themes of life and death, featuring contributions from sarod players Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, seventh-generation musical brothers of the Gwalior musical lineage; legendary brass performer Jea Band Jaipur; bansuri player Ajay Prasanna and The Mountain Choir, led by Vijayaa Shanker.

Dropping on March 20 via the band’s own new label Kong (pre-order/pre-save here), The Mountain is a star studdedd afair featuring production from Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, Remi Kabaka Jr. and Bizarrap.

Recorded in several studios across the world, the 15 track long player features collaborations with a winde range of artists including Johnny Marr from The Smiths, Yasiin Bey, Idles, Black Thought of the Roots and Anoushka Shankar, along with the voices of several personalities who have passed away in recent years, such as Bobby Womack, Dennis Hopper and the Fall’s Mark E. Smith.

The artwork for The Mountain is once again provided by visual artist Jamie Hewlett, who continues to evolve the world of Gorillaz, with a series of hand-drawn images capturing the band’s animated members Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D also being released as both a book and a collection of 12x12 prints.

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The Mountain will be available as a digital download, standard CD, deluxe 2CD edition with a selection of Mystery Show live tracks, standard vinyl, hardback book vinyl edition and limited edition collectors box that comes with exclusive art prints.

Gorillaz have also announced a run of UK and Ireland shows to coincide with the release of the album, with support from Sparks and Trueno.

‘The Manifesto’ ft. Trueno & Proof by Gorillaz is out now. The Mountain drops March 20 via the Kong. Pre-order/pre-save the album here. Check out the album artwork and full tracklist below.

The Mountain

1. The Mountain (ft. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali
Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)

2. The Moon Cave (ft. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda
and Black Thought)

3. The Happy Dictator (ft. Sparks)

4. The Hardest Thing (ft. Tony Allen)

5. Orange County (ft. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)

6. The God of Lying (ft. Idles)

7. The Empty Dream Machine (ft. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka
Shankar)

8. The Manifesto (ft. Trueno and Proof)

9. The Plastic Guru (ft. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)

10. Delirium (ft. Mark E. Smith)

11. Damascus (ft. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey)

12. The Shadowy Light (ft. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali
Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)

13. Casablanca (ft. Paul Simonon and Johny Marr)

14. The Sweet Prince (ft. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)

15. The Sad God (ft. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)

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