We all know and love The Gorillaz. And now we’ve got our first taste of music from their upcoming record. Recently, news broke that the band’s sixth studio album The Now Now will be released on June 29th. Frontman Damon Albarn sat down with Zane Lowe of Beats 1 World Music to discuss the upcoming LP and give fans the debut of the album’s first single ‘Humility‘. But that’s not all, the band also announced that they would be bringing their Demon Dayz Festival to Los Angeles on October 20th to fully accompany their new music debut.
‘Humility‘ features legendary soul and jazz artist George Benson. A jaunty indie-rock number, the song utilizes a catchy guitar riff and the soothing vocals from Albarn. The accompanying video has lead singer 2-D roller skating around a sunny, beach town in America. Hollywood star Jack Black dances and plays electric guitar in the background.
The band also surprised us by releasing a second track from the album called ‘Lake Zurich‘. Mostly instrumental apart from a spoken word bit about halfway through, ‘Lake Zurich’ is a much more synth driven track than ‘Humility,’ giving us a glimpse into the diversity we can expect from the album.
While previous Gorillaz albums have featured many artist collaborations, The Now Now will only feature Benson and Snoop Dogg. It is a summer record filled with expressive singing set in the world of Stu-Pot. In addition, their artwork will have a revamped style as Gorillaz illustrator Jamie Hewlett has upped his approach to the group’s design. Every next level of life demands a different you, and they are certainly back with new momentum this year.
Demon Dayz Los Angeles will take place on October 20th at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena and Grounds in Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale June 8 here and start at $99 plus fees. The full lineup will be announced June 4, and we can bet it’ll include some awesome talent to coincide. Listen to their newest track below for a taste of what’s to come. More info on the festival is available here. Who’s going?