Gorillaz: The Mountain album review – Songs for the departed
Gorillaz successfully balance weighty subject matter and a whopping line-up of guests artists on new album The Mountain, transforming grief into a musical celebration of loss, says Danny Munro
Gorillaz’ ninth studio album begins in Varanasi, a sacred northern Indian city synonymous with mortality, frequented by one million Hindu pilgrims each year. It is here, by the banks of the Ganges, where Damon Albarn came to scatter his father’s ashes. Just ten days after Albarn’s father passed, Jamie Hewlett, co-founder of the band and the artist responsible for the design of its virtual members, also lost his father. Rather than suppress their grief, Albarn and Hewlett decided to embrace the Indian custom of mourning outwardly, using The Mountain as an opportunity to celebrate the lives of those no longer with us.
It’s a dramatic prelude to an album that gets off to a particularly stirring start. Proceedings begin with a largely instrumental title track, featuring contributions from Grammy-nominated sitar player Anoushka Shankar and classical flautist Ajay Prasanna. It’s a nod to Albarn’s father, Keith, who drew inspiration from Hindu art throughout his life. The piece builds gradually to a rather moving crescendo on which Albarn can be heard repeating the line ‘all good souls come to rest’.
As you might expect from a Gorillaz album, no note is held on to for too long, and the downtempo atmosphere is consistently interspersed with fleeting moments of vibrant positivity. ‘The Manifesto’ is one of the highlights of album number nine, on which we’re introduced to emerging Argentine rapper Trueno. The 23-year-old’s high-tempo raps are propped up by a posthumous contribution from Proof, of rap group D12. It’s a touching reflection of the way The Mountain seeks to celebrate both the people who have come before and those we are yet to meet. The record is littered with collaboration, featuring no less than 24 guest artists. Be it new blood like the soulful Jalen Ngonda, familiar faces such as Yasiin Bey or the impeccable tones of 92-year-old Bollywood icon Asha Bhosle, we hear five different languages and almost too many styles to count.
There are multiple posthumous appearances, including Bobby Womack, who made such a meaningful contribution to Gorillaz’ 2010 release Plastic Beach, and De La Soul’s David Jolicoeur. Mark E Smith sounds particularly enchanting, repeatedly crying out ‘Delirium’ on the track of the same name that sounds as though it came straight from the Plastic Beach sessions. Of course, not everything comes off. With as much experimentation and fusing of sounds as there is on modern Gorillaz albums, some moments fail to leave much of a lasting impression, such as the stripped back Idles collaboration ‘The God Of Lying’, which feels like something of a missed opportunity.
But on the whole, the difference between The Mountain and some of Gorillaz’ recent projects is that the team-ups seem laser focused. While at times it felt as though the band had taken a scattergun approach to selecting featured performers on Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez or Humanz, each guest appearance on The Mountain appears carefully considered. Rather than search for the most unique superstar crossover possible, Albarn and co look to have meticulously recruited each artist to serve a specific purpose on an album that deals with weighty themes.
The Mountain is released by Kong on Friday 27 February; Gorillaz will tour the UK until Saturday 20 June.
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