FINALLY SOMEONE LET THEM OUT OF THE CAGE. I’m sorry, I had to because I am just so extremely excited. Let me take you on a trip down memory lane. Back in the late 90’s, a band was created. No, it wasn’t just formed, but created. The Gorillaz was a fictional band created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the frontman of Blur and the creator of the comic strip Tank Girl. If you haven’t already, I suggest you take a look at the “story” of the band and its members 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel. It is far too long and intricate for me to successfully summarize here, but interesting nonetheless. Over the years, their story has been broken up into chunks, known as phases. Let me give you a quick rundown.
In 2001, the band released their first album, the self-titled Gorillaz. This album brought forth the popular hits “Clint Eastwood,” “19-2000,” “Tomorrow Comes Today,” and “Rock the House.” A collection of the B-side singles was released as G-Sides later that year. This was known as Phase One: Celebrity Take Down. Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades consisted of Demon Days (2005), which had “Feel Good Inc.,” “Dirty Harry,” and “El Manana,” and D-Sides, a similar release to G-Sides (2006). Phase Three: Escape to Plastic Beach consisted of a new album (Plastic Beach) and a world tour, and a second album that felt barren to some. (The Fall) Albarn and Hewlett had a falling out in April of 2012, and future projects were “unlikely.” The band was thought to be over…
Until this year. There has been talk of a new project for the Gorillaz throughout 2016, but no indication when it would be released. A few weeks ago they stirred. Their website was updated. Their social media presences reappeared. There was a walk down memory lane that lasted a week, and many thought it was leading up to the announcement of Phase 4, only to be let down with, once again, nothing. Today, Phase Four started.
While it isn’t a new song, or album, it is a set up. On their instagram account, they posted a series of videos/pictures that told a story: The Book of Noodle. This story discusses what happened to Noodle after the events of Plastic Beach. While I won’t ruin the story itself, let’s just say that the end has Noodle returning to her roots, which is a fantastic set up to Phase Four having the band back together. You can check out the story here, but that is all that has been announced so far. I’m sure I am with many others when I say I can’t wait to see what they having been cooking over the past four years.
The excitement cannot be contained, just like Murdoc
