Gorillaz Dig Up Some ‘New Gold’ With Tame Impala, the Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown
Gorillaz have linked up with Tame Impala and the Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown for a new song, “New Gold,” that will appear on their next album, Cracker Island, out Feb. 24, 2023, via Warner Records.
“New Gold” is classic Gorillaz, with a psychedelic haze floating over otherwise energetic alt-pop production. Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker delivers the song’s swooning hook while Bootie Brown blazes through a pair of verses, the second one culminating with the sign-off, “Bullshit keeps comin’, baby I’m a Matador/What are we living for?”
Before announcing Cracker Island, Gorillaz shared the album’s title track — which features Thundercat — back in July. The animated outfit’s upcoming eighth album will, as always, feature numerous guests, and this one boasts some very intriguing collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Beck, and Adeleye Omotayo. Gorillaz produced the album with Greg Kurstin and Remi Kabaka Jr.
Gorillaz’s four animated members “shared” some of their thoughts on the LP in a statement. Noodle Hobbs: “Cracker Island is the sound of change and the chorus of the collective.” Murdoc Niccals: “The hallowed tones of Cracker Island will soundtrack our collective ascension into the new dimension! JOIN ME!” Russel Hobbs: “When the reckoning comes, gotta be ready to step through the gateway. Cracker Island’s got the entry codes…” And 2D, most enigmatically, “The path to Cracker Island isn’t easy to find ‘cos it’s underwater.”
Cracker Island follows Gorillaz’s expansive 2020 project, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, which wasn’t billed as an album so much as a collection of songs Gorillaz released over the year. The group’s last proper studio LP was 2018’s The Now Now.
Cracker Island Track List
1. Cracker Island ft. Thundercat
2. Oil ft. Stevie Nicks
3. The Tired Influencer
4. Tarantula
5. Silent Running ft. Adeleye Omotayo
6. New Gold ft. Tame Impala & Bootie Brown
7. Baby Queen
8. Tormenta ft. Bad Bunny
9. Skinny Ape
10. Possession Island ft. Beck
