The iconography curated by Jamie Hewlett for the cover of “The Mountain” is not a simple graphic concept, but a declaration of intent that forcefully winks at German Romanticism.
Gorillaz ideally replace Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer on the Sea of Fog, no longer a single man facing infinity, but a cardboard band suspended above an abyss of steam, scanning a horizon saturated with clouds and full of unknowns and contradictions. It is the visual prelude to a work that makes verticality and confusion its cornerstones.
Having reached the milestone of twenty-five years of activity, the Damon Albarn and Hewlett collective releases “The Mountain”, the ninth chapter of a discography affected by a chronic and positive experimental hypertrophy. If in the past Gorillaz have sometimes seemed hostage to chaotic and unequal playlists, here the sound material finds cohesion again, transforming the sound kaleidoscope into a prism that reflects a clear light.
The album moves under the aegis of an almost obsessive rigor: almost every track is introduced by the definite article “The” interspersed with three very specific geographical elements Orange County, Damascus and Casablanca. It is not a nominalistic affectation, but a gateway, a marked border between the chaos of the outside world and the ordered (albeit bizarre) cosmos of the mountain.
Inspiration sprouts from the dusty soil of India and from the mirrored mourning of the two creators, both fatherless. This duality, the geographical journey and the intense filial farewell, shapes a sound architecture where the bansuri and the tambura are not exotic manners, but spiritual substance and metaphysical vibration.
The list of collaborators is, as usual, an encyclopedia of the possible, but with an unprecedented emotional depth. The album hosts a roster of artists and collaborators, including Ajay Prasanna, Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash, Anoushka Shankar, Asha Bhosle, Asha Puthli, Bizarrap, Black Thought, Gruff Rhys, IDLES, Jalen Ngonda, Johnny Marr, Kara Jackson, Omar Souleyman, Paul Simonon, Sparks, Trueno and Yasiin Bey.
However, the real critical gap lies in the ghostly presence of the deceased “traveling companions”. The voices of Bobby Womack, Tony Allen and Mark E. Smith float in the mix like interzonal entities. “The Mountain” is configured like the soundtrack between the here and now and the unknown, a polyglot bacchanal that is expressed in English, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish and Yoruba.
Produced by Gorillaz together with James Ford, Samuel Egglenton and Remi Kabaka Jr., with the participation of Bizarrap (Orange County), the album was recorded at the legendary Studio 13 in London and in Devon, as well as in various locations in India – including Mumbai, New Delhi, Rajasthan and Varanasi – as well as in Ashgabat, Damascus, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
Unlike its predecessors, “The Mountain” eschews the temptation to “skip tracks”. It is a work to be experienced in its entirety, an unexpected moment of grace that arrives a quarter of a century after its debut.
It's not just an album; it is proof that even a cardboard collective can bleed, grow old and, finally, look far beyond the clouds and ascend to another possible model of making music.
SCORE: 7.75
THE VOTES OF OTHERS
The Independent (UK) – Rating 10.00
Clash Music – Rating 9.00
Uncut – Rating 9.00
DIY Magazine – Rating 8.00
New Musical Express (NME) – Rating 8.00
The Guardian – Rating 8.00
Pitchfork – Rating 6.70
TO LISTEN NOW
The Moon Cave – The God of Lying – The Empty Dream Machine
TO BE SKIPPED IMMEDIATELY
An hour of music to travel in an experimental and daring world compared to the Italian musical panorama.
TRACKLIST
The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought)
The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks)
The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen)
Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)
The God of Lying (feat. IDLES)
The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof)
The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith)
Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey)
The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr)
The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
