Album Review: Gorillaz - "The Mountain"

Gorillaz travel to India with The Mountain, their ninth studio album. It's a transportive, immersive experience that excites and surprises, making it their best release in over fifteen years.

Kong - 2026

Gorillaz, the virtual project of Blur's Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, took to India for their new album, The Mountain. Before the making of their ninth studio album, the duo each lost their fathers and were looking for enlightenment and a way to grieve their losses. They recorded in various places across the world, but mostly in Mumbai with numerous traditional Indian musicians from the iconic Asha Bhosle (who passed away shortly after the album's release), Asha Puthli, and Anoushka Shankar, among others. This was looking to be a very intriguing follow up to an album I very much did not enjoy, 2023's Cracker Island, which I deemed as their worst project to date. Unlike Cracker Island, the lyrical themes and new setting for The Mountain are very different and the singles are actually pretty solid and memorable for the right reasons. Albarn and Hewlett decided to go with veteran and powerhouse producer James Ford, who's produced numerous Blur projects as well as Geese's 3D Country (one of the decade's best releases). The Mountain is also released via their own imprint titled Kong, making it their first independent release and first not on Parlophone.

As a whole, you're going to get a wide variety of sounds, styles and guest appearances like your average Gorillaz project. That all is standard. But what stands out in comparison are the cohesion and immersion of the album itself and how much I've missed a Gorillaz album actually sounding like a full album experience instead of a mix, playlist, or compilation of sorts. I've longed for a transportive experience reminiscent of ones like Plastic Beach and Demon Days. For the most part, The Mountain scratches that itch. Right off the bat, the album's opening title track lifts you off your feet and takes you directly into India with its swirling sitar, percussion, flutes, and vocal harmonies. It ends with an excerpt from the late actor Dennis Hopper, who previously contributed to Demon Days. It's amazing to say the very least and it's a spectacular start to the album. "The Moon Cave" continues the journey with more whimsy and magic with its lush orchestration and bright synths, reminiscent of ones used on Plastic Beach. There's also a great feature from the consistently great Black Thought of The Roots, who also appears numerous times on the album. "The Happy Dictator" is a bright, shiny, and happy facade featuring L.A.'s Sparks, playing face on a former dictator of Turkmenistan who banned all bad news and forced only positive, uplifting thoughts during his reign. The song is pure sunshine and uplifting despite the lyrical context and Sparks are a perfect fit for the song.

"Orange County" is a blissful electro pop tune with bustling horns, rich sitar, and cheery whistling. With lines like "the hardest thing is to say goodbye," you could probably put together that the song deals with Albarn and Hewlett's recent grief. The only thing I don't care about the song is the syrupy whistling, but with all the instrumentation backing it, I can get past it. "The God of Lying" features Joe Talbot of UK post punk band IDLES over a chilled out Indian beat, which I can get behind, even though it's not my favorite on the album by any means. "The Empty Dream Machine" is a moody, cinematic ballad that has more somber undertones and definitely acts more like it's coming from a solo Damon Albarn project or later Blur release (think Magic Whip) than a Gorillaz one. "The Manifesto" features autotuned vocals and rapping from Proof and Argentina's Trueno and is overall a fun tune, it doesn't sound like a Gorillaz track. I feel like there needs to be more of Albarn's vocals in the mix. "Delirium" features The Fall's Mark E. Smith and it sounds like a spiritual successor to Plastic Beach's "Glitter Freeze" (which also has Smith). It's pretty awesome and it's grown on me quite a bit. "The Plastic Guru" has a harmonious, triumphant delivery in its uplifting chorus and charming piano.

"Damascus" features rapper Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) and Syrian singer Omar Souleyman over a fiery, bumping rhythmic instrumental. It's got one of the most wacky and unlikely pairings but it works flawlessly. Having initially been recorded for Plastic Beach and passed over for Bey's inclusion on "Sweepstakes," "Damascus" still sounds great on this record and fits nicely. "The Shadowy Light" is a highlight due to the late Indian singer Bhosle's performance. "The Sweet Prince" has lush, beautiful Indian instrumentation and some excellent guitar from The Smiths' Johnny Marr with Albarn singing with a hushed, lullaby tone. "The Sad God" concludes the album in a cinematic fashion with repeating melodies from the opening title track from a choir and additional lyrics from Black Thought through a sweetly sung ballad. Overall, The Mountain is a huge step up from the most recent previous Gorillaz albums (Cracker Island, Song Machine, The Now Now). You could argue and say it's their best album since Plastic Beach, which was released over fifteen years ago. It's exciting, whimsical, fun, and is above all a Gorillaz album that sounds like what a Gorillaz album should be: a surprising and exciting array full of different guests that all come together in a really immersive and truly one-of-a-kind way.

My Rating: 8 / 10

Favorite Songs: "The Mountain," "The Moon Cave," "The Happy Dictator," "Orange County," "Delirium," "Damascus," "The Sad God"