Packed with guests, dead or alive, “The Mountain” sets course for India and the beyond in a multilingual, multi-genre odyssey.
In twenty-five years of a career, Gorillaz has never stopped being restless, exploring all musical styles, taking advantage of each album to embark on an adventure toward different lands with a troupe of ever-changing members.
The only constant of this virtual band (highlighted in Fortnite Festival last year) now quite tangible: the insatiable and fascinating curiosity of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. For its ninth album, the duo turned its attention to Indian culture, as indicated by the title written in devanāgarī on the cover.
Sitar notes, hip-hop, rock echoes…
Enchanting sitar notes resound from the very first seconds, as if sealing a spell from which one will only emerge after fifteen songs, pleasantly disoriented by all these exotic aftertastes.
The traditional music of the country of Ravi Shankar (whose daughter, Anoushka, plays on several tracks) serves as a through line, but many other cultures weave into this multilingual record (sung in English, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic and Yoruba).
There are, notably, hip-hop (featuring Black Thought of the Roots and the faithful Yasiin Bey), sugary synth-pop (The Happy Dictator, one of the peaks of the record, with the brisk Sparks), rock echoes (Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr are on board), reggae or electro-pop.
The sense of unreality comes from this ease in hopping between genres, free from any constraint – let’s note that The Mountain is the first album Gorillaz releases through its own independent label, without the backing of the major label that had accompanied them since their beginnings.
Blurring the boundaries
This mirage-like sonic facet also comes from the voices of some of their departed collaborators (Tony Allen, Mark E. Smith, Bobby Womack…) who resurface and contribute to the overall mystical atmosphere.
The two founding partners have lost loved ones since their previous album and seem to want to blur the boundaries with the beyond.
Recorded between the London studio of the Blur frontman, the United States, India and the Milky Way, this album that roams along an imaginary crest highlights the prodigious songwriting and the engaging timbre of Damon Albarn – let us cite The Sweet Prince, a ballad at once magical and melancholic that has not finished lulling us.
The Mountain (Kong/The Orchard). Out February 27. On tour at We Love Green, Paris, on June 5 and at Musilac, Aix-les-Bains, on July 11.
