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Lore & Background

The timeline leading to Humanz began with rumors of a split between creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett after 2010's The Fall. Although representatives denied a permanent fallout, Hewlett expressed dissatisfaction that his animation had become less central. Reconciliation occurred in late 2014 at a party where Albarn asked, 'Do you want to do another one?' Following this, recording officially began around September 2015 and continued through December 2016 across London, Paris, New York City, and Jamaica. To guide collaborators into the album's specific reality, Albarn instructed artists to imagine a future where Donald Trump had won the presidency. Collaborator Pusha T noted his own foresight in this setting, stating, 'I wrote from the perspective of a Trump win. When this really happened, I was like... what type of crystal ball did this guy have?' This shared vision created a 'dark fantasy' atmosphere that permeates the tracklist.

In Their Own Story

In September 2015, Albarn began writing songs while still on tour with his solo project and Blur. By April 2016, Hewlett uploaded video clips showing continued work, featuring Liam Bailey and producer The Twilite Tone. The creative process involved unique methods; for the song 'Charger,' Grace Jones ad-libbed vocals for four hours over an instrumental. Overwhelmed by the recording length, Albarn covered his studio floor with cut-up paper fragments of her performance to find the working pieces, eventually crafting the track from there. Album engineer Stephen Sedgwick's final mix session for this song contained 90 separate tracks. Other collaborations faced hurdles; Morrissey and Rick Ross turned down offers, while Dionne Warwick declined due to lyrical conflicts with her religious views. Despite these rejections, the album featured guest artists including Jehnny Beth, Vince Staples, and De La Soul.

Reader's Guide

Humanz debuted at number two on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, reaching the top 10 in 23 countries. The album received generally positive reviews for its energetic tone and political themes, though some critics felt the abundance of guest artists resulted in a 'bloated track list.' It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Following its release, the band embarked on the Humanz Tour from 2017 to 2018, which was their longest tour to date. During this period, Albarn began recording the follow-up studio album The Now Now (2018). A 'Super Deluxe' edition featuring an additional 14 tracks was released in November 2017. Key singles included lead track 'Saturnz Barz' and 'Strobelite'.

Did You Know?

• Albarn instructed guest artists to imagine a future where Donald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election, a scenario Pusha T later called 'inadvertent foresight'.
• Grace Jones recorded four hours of ad-libbed vocals for 'Charger', requiring Albarn to physically sort through cut-up paper fragments on his studio floor to construct the song.
• The Humanz Tour (2017–2018) became the band's longest tour to date at that time, during which they began recording their next album, The Now Now.
• Several high-profile artists including Morrissey, Sade, and Rick Ross turned down collaboration offers for the album.
• The final mix session of the song 'Charger' contained 90 separate tracks.