{"id":2015339,"date":"2025-09-11T22:58:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T22:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2015339"},"modified":"2025-09-11T22:58:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T22:58:45","slug":"gorillaz-announce-new-album-the-mountain-with-uk-and-ireland-tour-and-theatrical-single-the-happy-dictator-featuring-sparks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/gorillaz-announce-new-album-the-mountain-with-uk-and-ireland-tour-and-theatrical-single-the-happy-dictator-featuring-sparks\/","title":{"rendered":"Gorillaz announce new album &#8216;The Mountain&#8217; with UK and Ireland tour and theatrical single &#8216;The Happy Dictator&#8217; featuring Sparks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/gorillaz\">Gorillaz<\/a> have announced new album \u2018The Mountain\u2019, alongside UK and Ireland tour dates and shared new single \u2018The Happy Dictator\u2019 featuring <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/sparks\">Sparks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-content-read-more\">\n<li><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/album\/gorillaz-cracker-island-review-lyrics-tracklist-3402624\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gorillaz \u2013 \u2018Cracker Island\u2019 review: conventional, but richly satisfying<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It comes after the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-family: Verdana, BlinkMacSystemFont, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: #3b82f680; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/damon-albarn\">Damon<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/damon-albarn\">Albarn<\/a>-led animated band <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/fans-react-to-gorillaz-debuting-new-album-at-phone-free-house-of-kong-mystery-show-in-london-3890024\">debuted their upcoming ninth LP during the final of four gigs at London\u2019s Copper Box Arena earlier this month<\/a>. Fans attending the show weren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Gorillaz have officially announced the record, which is called \u2018The Mountain\u2019 and due out on March 20, 2026. It will mark the first release on the band\u2019s own new label KONG, and you can pre-order it <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gorillaz.ffm.to\/themountain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Today (September 11), they\u2019ve also shared the first taste of the record with \u2018The Happy Dictator\u2019, a theatrical collaboration with Sparks that sees Albarn sing: \u201c<em>No more bad news, so you can sleep well at night and the palace of your mind will be bright.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Listen below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gorillaz - The Happy Dictator ft. Sparks (Official Visualiser)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MG_npaLydKg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Alongside the album, the band have also announced a UK and Ireland tour, set to kick off in March 2026. They\u2019ll play in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin, as well as a one-off headline show at London\u2019s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with support from Sparks and Trueno.<\/p>\n<p>You can find a full list of dates below, and further ticket information <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ticketmaster-uk.tm7559.net\/c\/2862475\/431519\/7559?sharedid=NME&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketmaster.co.uk%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dgorillaz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Gorillaz\u2019 \u2018The Mountain Tour\u2019 dates are:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>MARCH<br \/>21 \u2013 Co-op Live, Manchester<\/strong><br \/><strong>22 \u2013 BP Pulse Live, Birmingham<\/strong><br \/><strong>24 \u2013 OVO Hydro, Glasgow (support from Trueno)<\/strong><br \/><strong>25 \u2013 First Direct Arena, Leeds<\/strong><br \/><strong>27 \u2013 Utilitia Arena, Cardiff (support from Trueno)<\/strong><br \/><strong>28 \u2013 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham (support from Trueno)<\/strong><br \/><strong>29 \u2013 M&amp;S Bank Arena, Liverpool (support from Trueno)<\/strong><br \/><strong>31 \u2013 SSE Arena, Belfast<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>APRIL\u00a0<\/strong><br \/><strong>1 \u2013 3Arena, Dublin (support from Trueno)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>JUNE<\/strong><br \/><strong>20 \u2013 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London (support from Sparks and Trueno)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3865130\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3865130\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3865130\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gorillaz. CREDIT: Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The Mountain\u2019 includes collaborations with\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/black-thought\">Black Thought<\/a>,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/omar-souleyman\">Omar Souleyman<\/a>, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/sparks\">Sparks<\/a>,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/gruff-rhys\">Gruff Rhys<\/a>, Kara Jackson,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/yasiin-bey\">Yasiin Bey<\/a>, Paul Simonon,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/idles\">IDLES<\/a>\u2018 Joe Talbot,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/johnny-marr\">Johnny Marr<\/a>, Ajay Prasanna, Trueno and Anoushka Shankar.<\/p>\n<p>The London Arab Orchestra, Demon Strings, Chris Storr, James Copus and Matthew Gunner also served as featured musicians, while deceased acts like Dennis Hopper, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/bobby-womack\">Bobby Womack<\/a>,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/de-la-soul\">De La Soul<\/a>\u2018s Dave Jolicoeur,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/tony-allen\">Tony Allen<\/a>, Proof and the late\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/mark-e-smith\">Mark E Smith<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/the-fall\">The Fall<\/a>\u00a0are billed as Voices from Elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>See the album cover and full tracklist below.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3892054\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3892054\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3892054\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover-696x696.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover-1392x1392.jpg 1392w, https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gorillaz-The-Mountain-Album-Cover-1068x1068.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3892054\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gorillaz \u2018The Mountain\u2019 Album Cover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Gorillaz\u2019 \u2018The Mountain\u2019 tracklist is:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Moon Cave\u2019 (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Happy Dictator\u2019 (feat. Sparks)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Hardest Thing\u2019 (feat. Tony Allen)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018Orange County\u2019 (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The God of Lying\u2019 (feat. IDLES)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Empty Dream Machine\u2019 (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Manifesto\u2019 (feat. Trueno and Proof)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Plastic Guru\u2019 (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018Delirium\u2019 (feat. Mark E. Smith)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018Damascus\u2019 (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Shadowy Light\u2019 (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018Casablanca\u2019 (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Sweet Prince\u2019 (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u2018The Sad God\u2019 (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>\u2018The Mountain\u2019 features artists performing in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba.<\/p>\n<p>Fans who attended the gig where it was debuted also reported that the album was \u201cheavy on Indian tunes\u201d, while others on Reddit said it also included other South Asian, Middle Eastern and world influences.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/C1PHERT0L0GY\/status\/1963378227621028338\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leaked image from the show also sees artwork of fictional character Murdoc now in the form of a Hindu deity<\/a>\u00a0with blue skin, a long beard and prayer beads hanging from his neck. See more reactions below.<\/p>\n<p>Per a press release, \u2018The Mountain\u2019 finds fictional band members Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, 2D and Noodle \u2013 created by Jamie Hewlett \u2013 in India, having turned their backs on international pop stardom, and now focused on \u201cmystical music-making\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NME&#039;s first live interview with Gorillaz\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TyPKO-im1oE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/gorillaz-to-play-iconic-albums-in-full-at-one-off-london-live-shows-3865125\"> four limited-capacity live shows at the Copper Box Arena in London<\/a> marked Gorillaz\u2019 25th anniversary. The first show saw them <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-gorillaz-play-debut-album-in-full-as-they-kick-off-london-residency-3888754\">perform their self-titled debut<\/a> in full, playing \u2018Double Bass\u2019 and \u2018Ghost Train\u2019 live for the first time ever. Last week, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-gorillaz-official-video-of-playing-debut-album-in-full-at-london-house-of-kong-residency-3890520\">they shared an official video of the full gig<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The third show \u2013 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-gorillaz-surprise-fans-with-the-fall-tracks-after-playing-plastic-beach-in-full-with-yasiin-bey-gruff-rhys-and-paul-simonon-3889711\">where they played \u2018Plastic Beach\u2019 in its entirety<\/a> \u2013 also saw Gorillaz <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-gorillaz-surprise-fans-with-the-fall-tracks-after-playing-plastic-beach-in-full-with-yasiin-bey-gruff-rhys-and-paul-simonon-3889711\">surprise audiences with \u2018The Fall\u2019 tracks<\/a>\u00a0\u2018Phoner To Arizona\u2019 and \u2018California And The Slipping Of The Sun\u2019 live for the first time ever during the encore.<\/p>\n<p>The mini residency came as part of the band\u2019s \u2018House Of Kong\u2019 exhibition at the Copper Box. It ran from August 8 until September 3, and<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/gorillaz-to-celebrate-25-years-with-new-london-exhibition-house-of-kong-3863945\">\u00a0offered fans a look behind the curtain of the virtual band\u2019s headquarters<\/a>, and provided insights into the journey they have had since sharing their 2000 debut single \u2018Tomorrow Comes Today\u2019, up until the present day.<\/p>\n<p>The band are <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/gaming-news\/gorillaz-to-relaunch-kong-studios-as-online-video-game-3891527\">now set to relaunch Kong Studios as an online video game<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nme.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gorillaz have announced new album \u2018The Mountain\u2019, alongside UK and Ireland tour dates and shared new single \u2018The Happy Dictator\u2019 featuring Sparks. READ MORE:\u00a0Gorillaz \u2013 \u2018Cracker Island\u2019 review: conventional, but richly satisfying It comes after the Damon Albarn-led animated band debuted their upcoming ninth LP during the final of four gigs at London\u2019s Copper Box [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1951006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[21934,21940,21945],"class_list":["post-2015339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-alternative","tag-pop","tag-rap"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Gorillaz-tease-new-music-ahead-of-25th-anniversary-shows.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1951006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}