Gorillaz’s “Cracker Island” featuring Thundercat has a video directed by Jamie Hewlett and Fx Goby. The trippy scene finds Thundercat appearing as a hallucination of 2D’s in a hospital. Hobbs is engaged with television, Noodle gets interrogated by the police and Murdoc appears in the dress of an occultist. Murdoc seems to bring a former flame back to life with his spiritual powers. The video’s various narratives all come together as the song seeps deeper into memory. The band is currently on their world tour and it will start in North America on September 11th. 

Grace Jones worked with Damon Albarn on the single “Charger” from the 2017 Gorillaz album Humanz. Albarn wanted to collaborate with the “matriarchs” of music to fully represent the idea of the album. He previously worked with what he called the “patriarchs” meaning Ike Turner, Bobby Womack and Ibrahim Ferrer. The recording of “Charger” was described by him as a ‘supernatural experience’ because of Jones’ passion and fierce spontaneity. The song was Jones’ first recording since contributing “Original Beast” to the 2014 soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1. Albarn’s tame vocals contrasted against Jones’ daunting delivery and a beat governed by a fuzzy guitar was a piece of avant-garde pop in line with her dance music legacy. 

Jones has spent the past four decades as a fashion and music icon having released 10 albums, appearing in movies and a career as a model.  In 2017, the documentary Grace Jones: Bloodlight & Bami came out and in 2018 she received the Order Of Jamaica. 

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[youtube id=”HyHNuVaZJ-k”]The Gorillaz “Feel Good Inc.” collaboration with De La Soul was the lead single from their sophomore album Demon Days. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the creative duo behind the virtual band, crafted a quirky pop record that gets its body from the bass line and De La Soul’s rap contribution. Hewlett told The Guardian that the video was inspired by Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s fantasy film Castle In The Sky. Gorillaz band members Noodle and 2D fight with the notion of being indoctrinated by the media. “Feel Good Inc.” was one of the best songs of 2005 and became the group’s most favored tune. MTV acknowledged the video with awards for Best Visual Effects and being a Breakthrough video. Gorillaz went to the Grammys in 2006 and won Best Pop Song Collaboration with Vocals for “Feel Good Inc.” In 2018, the Gorillaz released their sixth studio album, The Now Now to an audience of satisfied critics and happy fans. 

Gorillaz released The Now Now today and Damon Albarn described it as “pretty much just me singing” and “very sort of in the world of 2-D.” Humanz had a long list of collaborators but The Now Now does not because of the strict time frame for the recording sessions. The Now Now tour is on the road until the fall. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/1amYhlukNF8WdaQC3gKkgL?si=usNYO-1ZTWmLimYxilSNpw