The Mountain

The Mountain might be a bit of a hard listen at first, but if you give it time, you’ll appreciate it as one of the finest things Albarn has ever made.

The Mountain is by some distance the most ambitious Gorillaz album yet, a multilayered musical tour de force that brings meaningful strands of hope to the deaths, chaos and delirium.

The emotional backbone of The Mountain, however, pushes that expert musicianship beyond the typically reliable Gorillaz sound and into new territory, adding more heart and humanity than this cartoon crew has ever mustered.

Grief, cross-cultural exploration, and musical experimentation coexist effortlessly, grounding the record and giving it both emotional resonance and sonic adventure. This is an album which proves Gorillaz can stretch their sound even further while remaining entirely in control.

Its 15 tracks are filled with cheery major-key singalongs, sitar-soaked synth-pop bangers and whimsical waltzes that serve as ecstatic celebrations of life, rebirth and reinvention. [Mar 2026, p.20]

It would have been easy to expect the music to sound heavy, even morose, following such tragedy. But some of the deepest wellsprings of renewal come from places of profound loss, and The Mountain proves it. This is a rejuvenating record. A healing record. One that finds light without pretending the dark isn’t there.

A wide-reaching album that relies on classical Indian orchestral arrangements as often as it does the far-out electropop that Gorillaz have built their brand on.

As The Mountain progresses in a shower of sitars and sarod, marked by bold, global influences and unmistakable Gorillaz pop flourish, it asserts the virtual band’s capacity for theatricality without caricature.

Confirm[s] that not only is this one of Gorillaz's best albums, but also that there's plenty of life in this cartoon outfit yet. [Apr 2026, p.76]

‘The Mountain’ as a full-bodied world-building affair; arguably their most rich and complete since ‘Plastic Beach’.

Something you’re more likely to listen to from start to finish than play with your finger ready to click fast-forward, panning for the best bits. The result is an unexpected career highlight, a quarter of a century in.

The result is the most substantial and satisfying Gorillaz album since the widescreen 2005 art-pop masterpiece Demon Days and its almost as impressive successor, 2010’s sprawling Plastic Beach.

Indian instrumentation adds a new tool to Damon’s sonic arsenal. In the wrong hands, the results could be gimmicky but here the Gorillaz formula never waivers. .... The decision to mine the Eastern take on death - a much more optimistic alternative to our Western one - frequently yields joyful results.

The Mountain successfully captures Gorillaz’ individuality without repeating it, pushing the band even further into this new era of experimentation with some of their most daring yet honed music in years.

Ultimately, The Mountain blends darkness with light to explore the thrills of existence in Gorillaz’ own idiosyncratic way.

The Mountain is a rich, rewarding take on living with and after loss, brimming with feeling, character and vibrant pop purpose. [Feb 2026, p.100]

The result is Gorillaz's most ambitious (and moving) record to date. [Apr 2026, p.84]

Gorillaz’s best work since 2010’s Plastic Beach.

Where “Damascus,” “The Manifesto,” and Sparks-assisted pinger “The Happy Dictator” play to their unlikely collaborators’ strengths, the bombast of songs like “The Plastic Guru” and “The Shadowy Light” teeters into folly.

The Mountain does not reach the same heights as the one called Monkey at the end of Demon Days, nor does it have the same sonic depth as Plastic Beach. However, it does continues in the path of both of those albums.