Gorillaz, made up of former Blur frontman Damon Albarn and comic artist Jamie Hewlett (alongside a rotating cast of producers and collaborators), has been going strong since their first album in 2001. I’ve been a fan since 2018, and when they announced “The Mountain” in Sept 2025, I was overjoyed. The almost six-month wait for this has felt long and arduous for me. Now that it’s been released, I am thrilled to say that it does not disappoint.
“The Mountain” was largely inspired by the deaths of Albarn’s and Hewlett’s fathers, as well as two trips the duo took to India. It deals greatly with the concepts of death and what comes after it (if anything), stretching across genres to do so. Genre-hopping is nothing new for Gorillaz, and it especially shines through on this album. One may think that the variety of genres on display would cause the album to feel disconnected, but, to me, it remains united under those original concepts. There’s a clear, tangible vision for what Albarn and Hewlett wanted to do with this album, which shines through in both the lyrics, many of which reference “the mountain” literally, and the instrumentation, which blends electronic and Indian classical music.
The album’s use of posthumous contributions from past collaborators of Gorillaz furthers its core reflections on mortality. The snippets from said collaborators (including but not limited to vocalist Mark E. Smith, actor Dennis Hopper and rapper Proof) are, for the most part, outtakes from old recording sessions with the band, with some outtakes dating as far back as 2001. Albarn said in an interview with Rolling Stone, “if we’re going to talk about the subject of death, I need some people who are dead to help me talk about it”. Indeed, their inclusions elevate the album and its themes to new heights; their contributions are incorporated into the songs in a nearly seamless manner, to the point that they didn’t seem to be repurposed demos for the most part.
The album’s thesis is illustrated most plainly (in my opinion) in “The Hardest Thing” and “Orange County,” two tracks, which were released together as a dual single in January 2026. “The Hardest Thing” is a sweeping, atmospheric track with a spoken-word intro from late Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. It truly feels like “crossing over” in a way, with its dramatic horns and chorale increasing in intensity until everything suddenly stops, which is when “Orange County” begins. Likely the most radio-friendly track of the album, the song’s instrumentals are chirpy and upbeat, while the lyrics are melancholic. The message seems simple at first in these two tracks: “You know the hardest thing / Is to say goodbye to someone you love / That’s the hardest thing.” Yet there is much uncertainty lying beneath that message. How does one move on? Does one ever really move on? Neither the song nor the album provides a concrete answer to these questions, perhaps because there may not be any concrete answers.
Hewlett told Rolling Stone, “Don’t cherry pick a song, listen to it all. We’re trying to bring back that idea of taking time to invest in something, instead of this culture of scrolling.” I took his advice and listened to “The Mountain” all the way through multiple times, and I agree — it is the best way to experience it. Granted, it does drag in some places, especially near the end of the album, but I believe those tracks remain a necessary part of the journey. I would greatly recommend setting aside an hour of your time or putting it on while doing homework and taking the journey up the mountain.
