There’s a certain excitement that bubbles whenever there’s a new Gorillaz song unleashed into the world. The group, fronted by Damon Albarn, brings a certain artistic standard to the forefront while also giving fans a quirky fantasy with its cartoon band members and fictional backstories.
But the backstory to the new song from the British-born Albarn and his collection of cohorts involves both a very real occurrence and a very dreamy one, too.
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Earlier this week, Gorillaz dropped its latest single, “Baby Queen.” The inspiration for the track, according to Albarn, comes from a moment in his career during which he met a person of royalty.
The new song, which is the latest track from the group’s forthcoming album, Cracker Island, was highlighted by Albarn in a previous LA Times profile from earlier in 2022. The song, he says, comes from a seminal moment when he met a Thai princess after she attended a Blur concert in 1997. (Albarn famously fronted the pop band Blur in the ’90s.)
That princess, Albarn says, sat on a throne next to the venue’s mixing board.
“‘Song 2’ started and she stood on her throne and stage-dived into the crowd,” Albarn said in the L.A. Times piece. “The reason I’ve written a song about it is because I had a dream about this princess very recently; she’d grown up and we spent time in my dream together, her as a woman.”
While the song was born, in part, of a dream, its final sound mimics that dream-like feeling. Sings Albarn, She kept me in a Polaroid / That was pinned up on her wall/ Under Garuda’s mirror lights / She takes flight / Yeah the kid’s alright.
Gorillaz’s forthcoming LP, Cracker Island, is slated to drop early next year on February 24. Previously, the band dropped two new songs, one featuring Thundercat and another featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown.
The band also recently concluded a North American tour in Los Angeles, which included guests Beck, Tame Impala, Thudercat, and more.
Check out the group’s upcoming album tracklist below.
Cracker Island Tracklist:
01. Cracker Island (feat. Thundercat)
02. Oil (feat. Stevie Nicks)
03. The Tired Influencer
04. Tarantula
05. Silent Running (feat. Adeleye Omotayo)
06. New Gold (feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown)
07. Baby Queen
08. Tormenta (feat. Bad Bunny)
09. Skinny Ape
10. Possession Island (feat. Beck)
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