Album Review: Gorillaz - 'The Mountain'

Alternative stars Gorillaz are back with a brand new album this Friday titled The Mountain! The Mountain represents the ninth studio album from Gorillaz in their career and spans 15 songs. The album features a plethora of guest artists and collaborators including: Ajay Prasanna, Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash, Anoushka Shankar, Asha Bhosle, Asha Puthli, Bizarrap, Black Thought, Gruff Rhys, IDLES, Jalen Ngonda, Johnny Marr, Kara Jackson, Omar Souleyman, PaulSimonon, Sparks, Trueno, and Yasiin Bey.

The album is lead by the single "The Happy Dictator" (feat. Sparks) which features vocalist Damon Albarn's signature vocal style over a whimsical alt beat that just pops. The album is distinct, peculiar, and undoubtably funky in all the best ways.

The album was produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, Remi Kabaka Jr. and Bizarrap (Orange County). Additionally, The Mountain features artists performing in five languages including: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba. The art for the record features Jamie Hewlett's signature creative drive and features hand-drawn images of band member's Murdoc, Noodle, Russel, and 2D's adventures working on the album in India, which are available as a book or prints.

The Mountain signifies the continued evolution of the group, now nearly 25 years into their artistic journey as Gorillaz. The record features a variety of instrumentation throughout and vocal stylings anchored by Albarn.

The stylings on the record vary widely, from sitar-laced moments, to more alt/hip-hop style beats. One of our favorite moments on the record has to be "The Empty Dream Machine" (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr, and Anoushka). "The Empty Dream Machine" features sitar throughout along with straight up bars throughout the verses.

The Mountain just again goes to show that Albarn and Co. are still at the precipice of alt music bringing unique stylings and instrumentation to their work. Though the styles they tinker with on the record might seem like they wouldn't work, they absolutely do. We absolutely love this one and if you're a fan of the band, we think this will be right up your alley. If you are new to Gorillaz, we definitely recommend changing that ASAP and diving headfirst into the stylistic dreamscape that is The Mountain.

Rating - 4.5/5