The Gorillaz presents a music video for three songs by the English virtual band Gorillaz, individually titled “The Mountain”, “The Moon”, and “The Sad God.” It’s to celebrate the release of a 15-track collaborative album, titled The Mountain, on March 20, 2026, featuring stars from across the globe.

Each of the songs features at least one collaborator, and will feature artists singing in Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba. Idles is featured on “The God of Lying.” Argentinian DJ Bizarrap joins Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar on “Orange County,” and Argentine rapper Trueno will appear with Proof on “The Manifesto.”

A press release for the record described The Mountain as a “playlist for a party on the border between this world and whatever happens next, exploring the journey of life and the thrill of existence.” The album was recorded at Studio 13 in London, along with cities in India, Miami, Ashgabat, Damascus, and New York. The album is the first under their indie record label, Kong.

Gorillaz: The Mountain is the ninth studio album by the virtual band, releasing March 20, 2026, on their own label, Kong. The 15-track project features massive global collaborations, including Bizarrap, Idles, and others, with singles like “The Happy Dictator” and “The Manifesto”.

The Mountain is the first studio album since 2023’s Cracker Island, which featured collaborations with artists such as Stevie Nicks, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, and Beck.

The video looks like traditional cel animation because it is. It’s all shot on industry standard cel animation photography equipment. Characters are drawn on paper, traced onto cels and inked, then color is applied to the backs of each cel. The result is a kind of color saturation that can only be achieved this way.

Visual callbacks to Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book are numerous, wholly intentional and very powerful. Noodle is portrayed initially in the role of Mowgli, her more female attributes ignored in favor of the performance itself. She prances through the jungle in the same confident, gangly bounce that makes Mowgli’s on-screen presence so recognizable. It isn’t until after she swims across a lake that she sheds her Mowgli imprint and becomes properly Noodle, suddenly aware that she’s a girl and needs to steal some clothes to properly cover herself.

Murdoc Niccals, the green skinned miscreant who is the front man of The Gorillaz and their bassist, is abducted by an analog of the giant python Ka, who instead of eating him, falls in love with him and releases him as a sort of professional courtesy. The other band members don’t even appear to notice that he’s missing for a time, apparently trusting that he’ll be there when the get wherever they’re going.

Russel Hobbs, the drummer, is used as a raft by Noodle, while 2D walks along with them on shore. 2D tries to buy some snake oil from a fakir, but a single moth from his pocket isn’t enough to make the purchase.

The Mountain beckons. They find that the place they sought was actually seeking them.

A slow boat trip to a mountain lake leads them to their destination, and they jump into the abysss.

It doesn’t all make sense. But then, apart from their obvious musical talents, The Gorillaz are some form of insanity, each in their own way. Only they could understand one another well enough to stay around, and they do it just because moment by moment, to them, it feels right.

1. “The Mountain” feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash
2. “The Moon Cave” feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda, and Black Thought
3. “The Happy Dictator” feat. Sparks
4. “The Hardest Thing” feat. Tony Allen
5. “Orange County” feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson, and Anoushka Shankar
6. “The God of Lying” feat. IDLES
7. “The Empty Dream Machine” feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr, and Anoushka Shankar
8. “The Manifesto” feat. Trueno and Proof
9. “The Plastic Guru” feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar
10. “Delirium” feat. Mark E. Smith
11. “Damascus” feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey
12. “The Shadowy Light” feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash
13. “Casablanca” feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr
14. “The Sweet Prince” feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr, and Anoushka Shankar
15. “The Sad God” feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasann,a and Anoushka Shankar

The list of credits is substantial, and it reads like that of an animated feature.

Sequence Director Jonathan Djob Nkondo
Producer Eva Dahlqvist
Art Director Eido Hayashi
Production Manager Michaela Dede
Animation Lead Xavier Ramonède
Assistant Animation Lead Seterah Erfan
Compositing Lead Freddie Lewis-wall

Production Coordinator Ekaterina Saiapina • Daisy Link
Production Coordinator for Eleven – Saskia Blow
Producer Cover Macarena Gaset • Adriana Piasek-Wanski
Production Assistant Ed Farish • Isabella Fitzsimons
Editor Peter Scott
Edit Assistant Ekaterina Saiapina

Storyboard Jamie Hewlett • Johnatan Djob Nkondo
Gaia Lamiot • Ay?e Akta? • Jon Lam
Concept Artist Igor Piwowarczyk • Arnaud Tribout • Daniel Clarke • Eido Hayashi • Paul Sabado • Simon Masse • Johnatan Djob Nkondo
Colour Script Eido Hayashi
Character Design Jamie Hewlett • Julien Perron • Johnatan Djob Nkondo
Character Layout Jamie Hewlett • Julien Perron • Xavier Ramonède
Background Layout Simon Masse • Nicola Bernardi • Darina Lapkovskaya
Background Paint Eido Hayashi • Arnaud Tribout • Luc Courtois • Paul-Emmanuel Separi • Daniel Clarke
Animation Pierre Rutz • Robin Eide • Johnatan Djob Nkondo • Yagizhan Misirli • Felipe Almeida • Jamie Merry • Sarah Dhorne • Sergio Mateo • Peter Dodd • Gaelle Thierry • Gustavo Carvalho • Kwok Fung Lam • Venla Linna • Juanpe Arroyo • Tim McCourt
FX Animation Erwin Rieffel • Lou Victor Karnas • Olivier Malric
Animation Assist Seterah Erfan • Christian Maymo • Krisi Zhupali • Ron Chevarie • Jonothan Wren • Daniel Morales • Clara Schildhauer • Judith Boor
Cleanup, Colour Outsource Amix • Pudoctopus
Graphics Design Max Taylor • Eido Hayashi
Compositing Freddie Lewis-Wall • Abel Kohen • Clarisse Valeix • Doru Ondun • Vincent E Sousa
Skye Van Der Walt • Natasha Francis • Patricia Andrades
Colour Grade Freddie Lewis-Wall
Sound Design, Mix Box of Toys
Animation Reference Actor Moss Taylor • Laurel Taylor • Nick Miller • Ekaterina Saiapina • Eva Dahlqvist • Michaela Dede • Tim McCourt • Skye Van Der Walt

DOP Edward Tucker
Art Director Rosie Tonkin
Gaffer Pearce Crowley
Book Binders Wyvern Bindery

Head of Operations Anna Degenaar • Kallista Omotosho
Studio Coordinator Sophia Owen-Moulding
Marketing Manager Ella Johnston
IT support Rob Riley
Pipeline Developer Ynput

Managing Director Laura Breaden
Exec Creative Director Tim McCourt
Exec Producer Tan Baptista
Head of CG Pete Addington
Head of Art Juancho Crespo
Head of Animation Kwok Fung Lam
Head of Compositing Freddie Lewis-Wall
Head of Production Nick Miller
Talent & Scheduling Coordinator Jesus Ovejero

The Mountain feat. Dennis Hopper, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash
Written by Damon Albarn, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar
Produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton & Remi Kabaka Jr
Vocals by Gorillaz
Spoken Word Dennis Hopper
Bansuri Ajay Prasanna
Sitar Anoushka Shankar
Percussion Viraj Acharya
Sarod Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash
Engineered by Samuel Egglenton
Mixed by Marta Salogni at Studio Zona
Mastered by Heba Kadry, NYC
Mastering Assistant, Jacob Clements
Published by Sony Music Publishing / Thirteen Limited, Copyright Control, Chester Music
Limited / A Wise Music Company
© Kong

The Moon Cave feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen
Ngonda, Black Thought
Written by Damon Albarn, Dave Jolicoeur, Tariq L. Trotter & James Ford
Produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton, Remi Kabaka Jr
Additional Production by Bizarrap
Vocals by Gorillaz, Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda, Black Thought
Bansuri Ajay Prasanna
Sitar Anoushka Shankar
Demon Strings Izzi Dunn, Kotono Sato, Sarah Tuke & Ciara Ismail.
Harp Olivia Jageurs
Percussion Viraj Acharya
Engineered by Samuel Egglenton
Mixed by Marta Salogni at Studio Zona
Mastered by Heba Kadry, NYC
Mastering Assistant, Jacob Clements
Published by Sony Music Publishing / Thirteen Limited, 80’s Kid Music (BMI),
ASCAP/Universal Music Publishing/Legendelphia Music, Universal Music Publishing
Jalen Ngonda appears courtesy of Daptone Records
© Kong

The Sad God feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar
Written by Damon Albarn & Tariq.Trotter & Anoushka Shankar
Produced by Gorillaz and Samuel Egglenton & Remi Kabaka Jr
Vocals Gorillaz and Black Thought
French Horn Matt
Bansuri Ajay Prasanna
Sitar Anoushka Shankar
The Mountain Choir
Mixed by Marta Salogni at Studio Zona
Mastered by Heba Kadry, NYC
Mastering Assistant, Jacob Clements
Published by Sony Music Publishing / Thirteen Limited & ASCAP/Universal Music
Publishing/Legendelphia Music, Chester Music Limited / A Wise Music Company
©Kong