When Gorillaz released their self-titled debut in March 2001, it felt less like the launch of a band than the unveiling of a new operating system. Built by Damon Albarn and visual artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz dissolved genre boundaries at a moment when the industry still relied on them. Hip-hop, dub, alternative rock, trip-hop, and pop all coexisted without hierarchy, stitched together by animated characters who somehow felt more human than most of their real-world counterparts.
Anchored by singles like “Clint Eastwood” and “19-2000”, the album rejected rock orthodoxy and embraced collaboration as a core principle. It debuted at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, cracked the Billboard 200, and went multi-platinum worldwide—but its deeper impact unfolded over time. Gorillaz didn’t just predict the future of genre-fluid music; it quietly helped build it.
Twenty-five years later, the project is still refusing stasis.
Rather than treating the anniversary as a victory lap, Gorillaz are using it as a launchpad. Earlier this month, they released “Orange County”, a new track featuring Bizarrap, Kara Jackson, and Anoushka Shankar—a borderless, grief-tinged song that leans into reflection rather than bombast. Paired with “The Hardest Thing”, which opens with the voice of late Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, the release signals a new emotional register for the band.
Both tracks appear on The Mountain, Gorillaz’ ninth studio album, due February 27 via their newly launched label KONG. Described by Albarn as a record about life, loss, and the spaces between worlds, The Mountain is built as a wide-open collaborative landscape, featuring an expansive cast that includes Black Thought, IDLES, Johnny Marr, Omar Souleyman, Paul Simonon, Sparks, Yasiin Bey, Gruff Rhys, and Asha Bhosle, among many others. The album was recorded across multiple continents, with performances in five languages, underscoring the same global curiosity that animated the project from day one.
That philosophy will extend beyond the album itself. Later this month, Gorillaz will stage two one-off shows at the Hollywood Palladium, performing The Mountain in full before launching House of Kong, a large-scale immersive exhibition opening February 26 in downtown Los Angeles. Billed as the final run of the exhibition anywhere, the experience folds together music, visual art, and narrative—another reminder that Gorillaz have always treated albums as entry points, not endpoints.
Looking back, Gorillaz (2001) now reads like a blueprint rather than a debut: a proof of concept for collaboration without borders, identity without fixed form, and music untethered from singular authorship. The fact that the project is still evolving—still absorbing new voices, new geographies, and new emotional weight—feels less like longevity and more like intent fulfilled.
At 25, Gorillaz aren’t preserving the past. They’re climbing forward.
Sources:
Billboard – Gorillaz Chart History
AllMusic – Gorillaz
Parlophone Records – Gorillaz
