Damon Albarn reveals how his father’s death shaped new Gorillaz album

Posted On November 3, 2025November 3, 2025

Damon Albarn has revealed how the losses of both his and Jamie Hewlett’s fathers shaped the course of Gorillaz’s upcoming album, The Mountain. 

The frontman admitted to The Sun how the record provided a sense of catharsis for their outpouring of grief. However, this was also matched with the revelations that came during some pivotal trips to India that the band took, which fundamentally changed their outlooks on death.

“Both Jamie and I lost our fathers,” Albarn said, before noting how, in the aftermath, “We did two quite amazing, magical trips to India. India is a very interesting place to carry grief, because they have a very positive outlook on death. England is just really bad at dealing with death.”

Albarn expanded on this by explaining how the Indian culture not only influenced The Mountain, but also helped him come to terms with his own loss. “In a way, I think this record is in that tradition of celebrating their lives. I did things I’d never done before. I swam in the Ganges in Varanasi. I watched the bodies being burnt on the banks of the Ganges,” he recalled, adding that he even scattered his father’s ashes there.

The Indian landscape has had a pertinent impact on the album, with the title on the album artwork written in Devanagari, a form of Indian Sanskrit. On top of this, Albarn also noted how the band are creating an eight-minute production to pair with the release of The Mountain, hence there being no music videos so far. “I think fans are going to love every aspect of this record,” he said.

Gorillaz are set to embark on a tour across the UK and Ireland in March and April next year, taking in stops in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast, and Dublin. Following this, they will also perform their first ever stadium gig at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on June 20th. 

The Mountain, which features artists performing in English, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish and Yoruba, will be released on March 20th, 2026. Special guests on the project include Johnny Marr, Sparks, Joe Talbot, Black Thought, Yasiin Bey, Paul Simonon and more.

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