Gorillaz Are Back With Words On ‘Humanz’

By Akua Ofei

Gorillaz returned on Thursday night with a smattering of new sights and sounds from the upcoming LP, Humanz.

Four new tracks with accompanying visuals for the official first single ‘Saturnz Barz’ dropped last night as Gorillaz sent the internet into a frenzy. Back in January, fans thought they had the measure of the new album with the release of ‘Hallelujah Money’, the track received a muted response as the 2015 mercury prize winner, pianist and poet Benajmin Clementine came on board to explore themes of power and greed.

Since then, Gorillaz have continued to tease new material from the Humanz album which is marked for release next month (April 28). ‘Andromeda’ (featuring D.R.A.M.), ‘Ascension’ (featuring Vince Staples), ‘We’ve Got The Power’ (featuring Jehnny Beth) and ‘Saturnz Barz’ (featuring both Popcaan and some seriously striking 360 degree video animation) all appeared on the official YouTube yesterday alongside the release of the full album tracklist which is jampacked with heavy weight features. De La Soul, Anthony Hamilton and the mighty Grace Jones all feature.

The regular album line up consists of 14 bumper tracks, with an additional five on the deluxe version. Of course for the collectors, a super deluxe edition will also be available to buy, which will house all 14 of the regular edition singles backed by an alternate version for fans to properly gorge on. Fans of UK music might be surprised to see one bonus track in particular from the deluxe album boasts a feature from both Rag’N’Bone Man and Ray BLK on a track entitled The Apprentice.

From the righteous Pop message of love on ‘We’ve Got The Power’, to the otherworldly ‘Ascension’ with Vince Staples, Gorillaz show off an album with global appeal, recorded in London, Paris, New York, Chicago and Jamaica both Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn have crammed social commentary on love, power and of course humanity in alongside some lavish HD animation that stays, as always, on the right side of sinister.

Tonight, a select few will have the chance to see the album performed in full at a secret London location, while everyone else that was lucky enough will have to wait until the sold out Demon Dayz festival in Margate this June.

Gorillaz are officially back after six years with some words on the state of humanity.

The full track listing for Humanz is:

  1. Ascension feat. Vince Staples
  2. Strobelite feat. Peven Everett
  3. Saturnz Barz feat. Popcaan
  4. Momentz feat. De La Soul
  5. Submission feat. Danny Brown & Kelela
  6. Charger feat. Grace Jones
  7. Andromeda feat. D.R.A.M.
  8. Busted and Blue
  9. Carnival feat. Anthony Hamilton
  10. Let Me Out feat. Mavis Staples & Pusha T
  11. Sex Murder Party feat. Jamie Principle & Zebra Katz
  12. She’s My Collar feat. Kali Uchis
  13. Hallelujah Money feat. Benjamin Clementine
  14. We Got The Power feat. Jehnny Beth

Bonus material on Deluxe:

  1. The Apprentice feat. Rag’n’ Bone Man, Zebra Katz & RAY BLK
  2. Halfway To The Halfway House feat. Peven Everett
  3. Out Of Bodyfeat. Kilo Kish, Zebra Katz & Imani Vonshà
  4. Ticker Tapefeat. Carly Simon & Kali Uchis
  5. Circle Of Friendzfeat. Brandon Markell Holmes

With interludes narrated by Ben Mendelsohn.

Pre-order / stream here: http://gorill.az/humanz

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