From Anoushka Shankar to Asha Bhosle, Gorillaz’s The Mountain elevates Indian artists beyond exotic backdrops

Animated various rock band Gorillaz, led by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, have introduced their ninth studio album The Mountain, releasing on March 20, 2026. This new mission is a departure from the digital band’s wide-ranging earlier catalogue – which normally blends various rock with synth-pop, electronica and hip-hop – incorporating Indian themes, Hindustani classical music, in addition to collaborations with Indian artists together with the likes of Anoushka Shankar and Asha Bhosle. The Mountain’s art work showcases a illustration of the Hindu deity Nataraja, holding numerous objects together with two crosses and a sitar.(instagram/@gorillaz) Additionally Learn | Gorillaz pronounces new album The Mountain impressed by India, collaborates with Asha Bhosle and Anoushka Shankar The art work and tracklistThe album cowl, art work, and tracklist have been revealed on social media on September 12. The album cowl says “Parvat” in Hindi letters and the art work options the 4 animated band members with numerous oriental overtones – Murdoc as a full-blown sanyasi or yogi sporting rudraksh-style beads, Russel sitting with a tuba donning a kurta-pajama set, full with a pagri, Noodle appearing because the bridge between the magical and the fashionable, with a face stuffed with Kabuki-inspired make-up, and 2D posing because the American traveler – and a illustration of Nataraj in typical Gorillaz artwork fashion, holding numerous objects together with two crosses, a cell phone and a sitar. It additionally contains a royal Bengal tiger, a goat and a monkey. The tracklist revealed epic collaborations in 5 completely different languages with artists together with Asha Bhosle, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, Ajay Prasanna, Omar Souleyman, Asha Puthli, Anoushka Shankar, IDLES, Paul Simonon, Jalen Ngonda, and Johnny Marr from the Smiths (attention-grabbing, proper?). In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett mentioned their inspiration behind the album, their travels to India, their expertise collaborating with Indian artists, and the theme of life, dying, and transition, which is central to the mission. From unvoiced muse to cultural agencyWhen Hindustani classical music was first popularised in Western music by the Beatles, again within the 60s, they borrowed musical components, together with devices just like the sitar and tambura, and appropriated the ‘unique’ soundscapes into British psychedelic rock. Ever because the hippies turned to India for religious and spiritual transcendence, the nation has been branded as a kaleidoscopic land of psychedelic visions, trippy colors and drugged ascetics misplaced in mind-bending meditation. Together with this got here the appropriation of Hindustani music – lengthy sitar solos and tambura drones within the backdrop – once more branded as unique background atmosphere for the Western creativeness fairly than celebrated because the work of expert Indian musicians. Gorillaz’s new album marks a departure from this century’s previous Western custom of idealising the East because the unique land and not using a voice – the narrative of illustration and the politics of authenticity has all the time been managed by the West. The album explores the fictional travels of the 4 animated bandmates by India, and was recorded in London, Devon, and locations in India. Within the Rolling Stone interview, each Albarn and Hewlett speak about going by tragic losses – the deaths of their fathers and Hewlett’s mother-in-law – and discovering consolation within the attitudes of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism in the direction of dying. Belonging to a essentially Anglo-Christian background, their response is corresponding to the hippie motion’s attraction to the east. Additionally Learn | Anoushka Shankar slams ‘sexist feedback’ on her pics as she opens up about well being battles: ‘No want to point out cleavage’ Collaboration with Indian artistsThe duo talked about having their finest time working with Indian artists and experiencing the nation in ‘superb technicolour’. One collaboration, nonetheless, stood out for Albarn – Anoushka Shankar. He was launched to sitar virtuoso Pandit Ravi Shankar at an early age, courtesy of his dad and mom’ deep appreciation for Indian classical music and ragas, and having the sitar guru’s daughter on his document marks a full circle second for him. He instructed Rolling Stone, “I in all probability listened to Ravi Shankar earlier than I listened to The Beatles once I was a child,” and added, “to have Anoushka Shankar on the document isn’t solely an actual privilege, however the reference to my dad and his love of Ravi Shankar is nice.” This collaboration isn’t solely a defining second for Damon Albarn’s expertise, but in addition marks a poetic return to the period when psych rock first wove Hindustani classical into its sonic tapestry – from the Beatles’ transformative journey to Rishikesh, the place George Harrison learnt to play the sitar beneath the steering of the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar. Permitting Indian artists to have a voice and representing them on the worldwide stage restores an company to Japanese tradition that was lengthy overdue. In contrast to previous Western tasks that borrowed Indian sounds as unique adornments, this album locations Indian musicians and devices on the coronary heart of its sonic id. From Anoushka Shankar’s sitar to the intricate rhythms of classical percussion, the contributions aren’t background thrives – they form the very texture of the music. In doing so, Gorillaz problem the previous orientalist template, remodeling India from a passive muse into an energetic co-creator in a globally resonant soundscape.