WHY IS GORILLAZ CLINT EASTWOOD CALLED THAT PRO
It was like: close email, open Pro Tools…”
The latter says she connected with the band on a personal level, telling NME: “We talked about the future in a way that made me jump out of my chair with excitement.” CHAI, a proper ‘one-to-watch’ band from Nagoya, Japan, who feature on the sing-song ‘MLS’, were similarly enthusiastic: “It’s amazing and we are so honoured.” And Ruban Nielson, frontman with psych-rockers Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who slink through the understated ‘Severed Head’, is unequivocal about his attitude to working with the band: “I had no hesitation when getting asked to work on a Gorillaz track. Vincent assists on the shimmering ‘Chalk Tablet Flowers’. The latest, ‘Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez’, released last month, is collaboration-stuffed: Elton John and The Cure’s Robert Smith appear, respectively, on the elegiac ‘The Pink Phantom’ and minimalist ‘Strange Timez’ Joy Division and New Order legend Peter Hook and dance-pop titan Georgia groove through the ‘80s-influenced ‘Aries’ and indie hero St. And, somehow, after everything they’ve done, 2020 is Gorillaz’s year.Īssembled by pop svengali Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett, the band – bassist Murdoc Niccals, vocalist 2D, drummer Russel Hobbs and guitarist Noodle – have spent seven glorious albums crafting their inimitable alt-pop in a universe all their own.
In the almost two decades they’ve been together, from louche 2001 debut single ‘Clint Eastwood’ to recent ska-flavoured tune ‘Momentary Bliss’, cartoon icons Gorillaz have been fine purveyors of apocalyptic pop, head-rattling collaborations and innovative visuals that melt the brain and eyeballs.