Demon Days Hotel

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Lore & Background

The first mention of Gorillaz's ninth album came from an interview with Damon Albarn ahead of their headlining Coachella 2023 performance, commenting that it would "take [Albarn & Jamie Hewlett] somewhere [they've] never been before". Albarn further described it as a "paradigm shift" and "very different" in a July 2023 interview with the Broken Record podcast. Later, in a December 2023 interview for Les Inrockuptibles, Albarn stated that work would begin on the album following the completion of The Magic Flute II: La Malédiction, his adaptation of The Magic Flute Part Two, and that he and Hewlett would travel to India to do so. In March 2025, Albarn told Les Inrockuptibles that the album was nearing completion, and in a later interview with Radio Nova he mentioned it would be complete in six weeks' time. Albarn and Hewlett both experienced the loss of close family members prior to their time in India. Both described the album as a cohesive and conceptual work exploring ideas of death and the afterlife through the band's fictional characters. Hewlett said people listening to the album are "supposed to listen to it from beginning to end", saying that they were "trying to bring back that idea of taking time to invest in something, instead of this culture of scrolling". The album's name was inspired by the duo's first visit to Amber Fort in Jaipur, as well as a mountain they visited in western China during the production of the opera Monkey: Journey to the West.

In Their Own Story

On 3 September 2025, the album was revealed and performed live in its entirety as the final "mystery show" of four shows coinciding with Gorillaz's 25th anniversary "House of Kong" museum and art exhibition in London, which also saw them perform the entirety of the band's first three albums: Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005) and Plastic Beach (2010). Eight days later, the band officially announced the album, revealing the title, cover artwork, and the original release date of 20 March 2026 and releasing the lead single "The Happy Dictator" concurrently. A deluxe version of the album was also later announced, as well as a Special Edition a few days after the album's release. The album was initially announced for release on 20 March 2026, before being brought forward to 27 February 2026. The album's linear notes states that it is dedicated to both Albarn and Hewlett's late fathers, Hewlett's late mother-in-law Amo, and past Gorillaz collaborators: Lou Reed, Ibrahim Ferrer, Dennis Hopper, Proof, Mark E. Smith, Tony Allen, Bobby Womack, David Jolicoeur, Ike Turner, Terry Hall, MF Doom and Craig Duffy.

Reader's Guide

The album continues the band's tradition of featuring collaborations with a wide ranging assortment of musicians, including Asha Bhosle, Asha Puthli, Black Thought, Idles, Johnny Marr, Anoushka Shankar, Sparks, Omar Souleyman, Trueno, and Yasiin Bey; as well as posthumous appearances from previous Gorillaz collaborators such as Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, David Jolicoeur (of De La Soul), Tony Allen, Proof, and Mark E. Smith, in keeping with the album's themes. The album was produced by Albarn, Remi Kabaka Jr., James Ford, and Samuel Eggleston. In keeping with the album's themes, Damon Albarn decided to include unused vocal takes from previous Gorillaz collaborators who had passed away, including soul singer Bobby Womack; rapper David Jolicoeur from De La Soul; actor Dennis Hopper; English vocalist Mark E. Smith of English post-punk band the Fall; rapper Proof from D12; and drummer Tony Allen. The vocal takes that were used on the album were either unused or alternate vocal takes from prior recording sessions, with the only condition that Albarn imposed upon himself and the production team was that they would not use any vocal takes that had been used on any previously released material. "I just thought, if we're going to talk about the subject of death, I need some people who are dead to help me talk about it", said Albarn. The album's opening song, "The Mountain", was recorded after Albarn and Hewlett visited Amber Fort in Rajasthan. Albarn recorded a musician playing a Rajasthan folk song on a ravanahatha, which formed the basis of the song, which Albarn later re-worked in his hotel room. Albarn then recorded the song with the Hindu Jea Band Jaipur, in Jaipur. The vocals of the late Dennis Hopper can be heard on the song, which come from multiple outtakes of Hopper's appearance on "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head" from Demon Days. "The Moon Cave" is named in reference to the book The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art by David Lewis-Williams, which Albarn gave his late father before he died. The song features contributions from the late David Jolicoeur (frequently known as Trugoy the Dove) of De La Soul, who collaborated with the band extensively in his later life. Jolicoeur's contributions to the song came from an unreleased song from the band's third album Plastic Beach called "Float Tropics", while Womack's contributions were taken from an outtake of a conversation Womack was having with Albarn during a recording session. The lead single, "The Happy Dictator", was inspired by Albarn's visit to Turkmenistan, where he learned of the dictator Saparmyrat Nyýazow, also known as Türkmenbaşy. In an interview with Jack Saunders on BBC Radio 1, Albarn said of the song: "The point of 'The Happy Dictator' is that the Türkmenbaşy wanted everyone in Turkmenistan to only think happy thoughts and sleep unaffected by the doom of the world, and just keep everything upbeat, so he kind of banned all bad news. When I was there, I was kind of inspired by that". The song features the American band Sparks – a collaboration which came about after the band left a note in Albarn's dressing room at the Primavera Sound Festival encouraging him to reach out to them if he wished to collaborate in the future. "The Empty Dream Machine", which features Black Thought, Johnny Marr & Anoushka Shankar, was inspired by a toy released in 1978 by Mattel, in collaboration with American music group, the Bee Gees, called The Dream Machine. The song "Orange County" features guest contributions from Anoushka Shankar and Kara Jackson, as well as additional production from Bizarrap, who also produced an alternative mix of the song. Albarn had originally planned for the song to feature Mexican singer and rapper Peso Pluma, and even travelled to his recording studio in Orange County. Although the collaboration ultimately did not come to fruition, it inspired the song's title. The album's second single, "The Manifesto", features late rapper Proof, whom the band had worked with on "911" in 2001, as well as Argentinian rapper Trueno, with Proof's contributions believed to be an unused freestyle from those sessions. The song also features an uncredited appearance from flautist Ajay Shankar Prasanna.

Did You Know?

• The album's opening song "The Mountain" was built from a Rajasthan folk song Albarn recorded on a ravanahatha at Amber Fort, then reworked in his hotel room and recorded with the Hindu Jea Band Jaipur.
• Dennis Hopper's vocals on "The Mountain" come from multiple outtakes of his appearance on "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head" from Demon Days.
• The song "The Moon Cave" takes its name from the book The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art by David Lewis-Williams, which Albarn gave his late father before he died.
• The lead single "The Happy Dictator" was inspired by Turkmenistan's dictator Saparmyrat Nyýazow (Türkmenbaşy), who banned all bad news in the country.
• Albarn left his gold tooth on a table after eating burritos in Miami before recording Asha Puthli's contributions for "The Moon Cave", and later had to retrieve it from a large waste container – an incident referenced by Black Thought on "The Empty Dream Machine".