Gorillaz have announced new album ‘The Mountain’, alongside UK and Ireland tour dates and shared new single ‘The Happy Dictator’ featuring Sparks.
It comes after the Damon Albarn-led animated band debuted their upcoming ninth LP during the final of four gigs at London’s Copper Box Arena earlier this month. Fans attending the show weren’t allowed access to their mobile phones, but many took to social media afterwards to share details of the album and the multitude of special guests included on it.
Now, Gorillaz have officially announced the record, which is called ‘The Mountain’ and due out on March 20, 2026. It will mark the first release on the band’s own new label KONG, and you can pre-order it here.
Today (September 11), they’ve also shared the first taste of the record with ‘The Happy Dictator’, a theatrical collaboration with Sparks that sees Albarn sing: “No more bad news, so you can sleep well at night and the palace of your mind will be bright.” Listen below.
Alongside the album, the band have also announced a UK and Ireland tour, set to kick off in March 2026. They’ll play in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin, as well as a one-off headline show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with support from Sparks and Trueno.
You can find a full list of dates below, and further ticket information here.
Gorillaz’ ‘The Mountain Tour’ dates are:
MARCH
21 – Co-op Live, Manchester
22 – BP Pulse Live, Birmingham
24 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow (support from Trueno)
25 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
27 – Utilitia Arena, Cardiff (support from Trueno)
28 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham (support from Trueno)
29 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool (support from Trueno)
31 – SSE Arena, Belfast
APRIL
1 – 3Arena, Dublin (support from Trueno)
JUNE
20 – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London (support from Sparks and Trueno)
‘The Mountain’ includes collaborations with Black Thought, Omar Souleyman, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle, Sparks, Gruff Rhys, Kara Jackson, Yasiin Bey, Paul Simonon, IDLES‘ Joe Talbot, Johnny Marr, Ajay Prasanna, Trueno and Anoushka Shankar.
The London Arab Orchestra, Demon Strings, Chris Storr, James Copus and Matthew Gunner also served as featured musicians, while deceased acts like Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, De La Soul‘s Dave Jolicoeur, Tony Allen, Proof and the late Mark E Smith of The Fall are billed as Voices from Elsewhere.
See the album cover and full tracklist below.
Gorillaz’ ‘The Mountain’ tracklist is:
- The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
- ‘The Moon Cave’ (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought)
- ‘The Happy Dictator’ (feat. Sparks)
- ‘The Hardest Thing’ (feat. Tony Allen)
- ‘Orange County’ (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)
- ‘The God of Lying’ (feat. IDLES)
- ‘The Empty Dream Machine’ (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
- ‘The Manifesto’ (feat. Trueno and Proof)
- ‘The Plastic Guru’ (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
- ‘Delirium’ (feat. Mark E. Smith)
- ‘Damascus’ (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey)
- ‘The Shadowy Light’ (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
- ‘Casablanca’ (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr)
- ‘The Sweet Prince’ (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
- ‘The Sad God’ (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
‘The Mountain’ features artists performing in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba.
Fans who attended the gig where it was debuted also reported that the album was “heavy on Indian tunes”, while others on Reddit said it also included other South Asian, Middle Eastern and world influences.
A leaked image from the show also sees artwork of fictional character Murdoc now in the form of a Hindu deity with blue skin, a long beard and prayer beads hanging from his neck. See more reactions below.
Per a press release, ‘The Mountain’ finds fictional band members Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, 2D and Noodle – created by Jamie Hewlett – in India, having turned their backs on international pop stardom, and now focused on “mystical music-making”.
The four limited-capacity live shows at the Copper Box Arena in London marked Gorillaz’ 25th anniversary. The first show saw them perform their self-titled debut in full, playing ‘Double Bass’ and ‘Ghost Train’ live for the first time ever. Last week, they shared an official video of the full gig.
The third show – where they played ‘Plastic Beach’ in its entirety – also saw Gorillaz surprise audiences with ‘The Fall’ tracks ‘Phoner To Arizona’ and ‘California And The Slipping Of The Sun’ live for the first time ever during the encore.
The mini residency came as part of the band’s ‘House Of Kong’ exhibition at the Copper Box. It ran from August 8 until September 3, and offered fans a look behind the curtain of the virtual band’s headquarters, and provided insights into the journey they have had since sharing their 2000 debut single ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’, up until the present day.
The band are now set to relaunch Kong Studios as an online video game.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nme.com ’
