Gorillaz share new track ‘Damascus’ featuring Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey
The Mountain – Album Tracklisting:
1. The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali
Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
2. The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda
and Black Thought)
3. The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks)
4. The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen)
5. Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar)
6. The God of Lying (feat. IDLES)
7. The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka
Shankar)
8. The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof)
9. The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
10. Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith)
11. Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey)
12. The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash)
13. Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr)
14. The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar)
15. The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
The Mountain will be available in the following formats: Digital Download; Standard CD; Deluxe 2CD (incl. selection of Mystery Show live tracks); Standard Vinyl; Hardback Book Vinyl Edition; Limited Edition Collectors Box (incl. Art Prints). Pre-order HERE.
Pre order / pre save The Mountain HERE.
Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey) is the latest brand new track from Gorillaz, the fourth from the band’s upcoming new studio album The Mountain out 27 February 2026 on the band’s own new label KONG. Listen to Damascus HERE. Watch visualiser HERE.
Written by Damon Albarn, Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey and recorded in Damascus, London, Devon, Mumbai and New York, Damascus features Syrian superstar of Bedouin music Omar Souleyman alongside rapper and singer Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def). Already firmly established as a fan favourite, the track received its live debut at the special surprise performance of The Mountain at London’s Copper Box Arena in September, ahead of an ecstatic reception at both Madrid’s Gaia Festival and Together For Palestine at Wembley Arena, an event which saw Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz live band also joined on stage by The London Arab Orchestra.
The Mountain is Gorillaz’ ninth studio album, an expansive sonic landscape of instruments and sounds, richly layered with voices, melodies and addictive beats, spanning a collection of 15 songs that embody the very essence of Gorillaz’ collaborative ethos. The record features an extraordinary list of artists and collaborators including: Ajay Prasanna, Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash, Anoushka Shankar, Asha Bhosle, Asha Puthli, Bizarrap, Black Thought, Gruff Rhys, IDLES, Jalen Ngonda, Johnny Marr, Kara Jackson, Omar Souleyman, Paul Simonon, Sparks, Trueno and Yasiin Bey; as well as the voices of friends and collaborators who have gone before us, including Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Dennis Hopper, Mark E Smith, Proof and Tony Allen. The Mountain is a playlist for a party on the border between this world and whatever happens next, exploring the journey of life and the thrill of existence.
The Mountain Tour will kick off with two warm-up shows in Bradford on 13 and 14 March before opening in Manchester on 20 March 2026. The tour will visit arenas across the UK and Ireland, with headline shows in Birmingham, Glasgow (SOLD OUT), Leeds, Cardiff (SOLD OUT), Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast (SOLD OUT) and Dublin (SOLD OUT); plus a one-off headline show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 20 June 2026 – the band’s biggest UK show to date – with support from Sparks and Trueno. The tour will also take in a run of festival performances across Europe next summer. See complete list of dates and ticket information at Gorillaz.com.
Following last year’s acclaimed London run, the iconic gates of Kong – the fabled home of Gorillaz – will open in Downtown L.A. when a celebrated new immersive exhibition House of Kong opens for a limited 4-week run from 26 February to 22 March 2026 at Rolling Greens. Exhibition tickets are on sale now. The exhibition will be accompanied by two very special one-off Gorillaz shows at the Hollywood Palladium taking place on 22 and 23 February. These standalone U.S. dates will see Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz live band joined onstage by special guests to perform the band’s new album ‘The Mountain’ in full, from beginning to end, all under the watchful eye of Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D.
The Mountain is produced by Gorillaz, James Ford, Samuel Egglenton and Remi Kabaka Jr., plus Bizarrap (Orange County), The Mountain was recorded at Studio 13 in London and Devon, various locations in India including Mumbai, New Delhi, Rajasthan and Varanasi, as well as Ashgabat, Damascus, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. The album features artists performing in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish and Yoruba.
The artwork for The Mountain sees visual artist Jamie Hewlett’s distinctive, yet ever-evolving, style illustrate the world of Gorillaz with detailed and beautiful intricacy across a series of hand-drawn images which capture Murdoc, Noodle, Russel and 2D’s time in India working on the new album, available both as a book and as a collection of 12×12 prints.
Created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz is singer 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, drummer Russel Hobbs and Japanese guitar prodigy Noodle. The BRIT and Grammy-winning virtual band formed following a collision of mishaps, meetings and pure luck to blow up a pre-digital world with their colourful backstory and ground-breaking virtual ways. Based at Kong Studios, Gorillaz settled into a life of musical innovation with an eye-wateringly exciting roster of collaborators, a list that includes musical legends, geniuses and future stars from Elton John to Little Simz, MF Doom to Jean-Michel Jarre, Grace Jones to slowthai, Kali Uchis to Sidiki Diabaté, plus so many more. With eight albums to their name, Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), The Fall (2011), Humanz (2017), The Now Now (2018), Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez (2020) and Cracker Island (2023), Gorillaz is a truly global phenomenon, achieving success in entirely new and unique ways, touring the world from San Diego to Syria, Montevideo to Manchester and winning numerous awards including the coveted Jim Henson Creativity Honor.
Omar Souleyman’s 5th studio album pays homage to Erbil — the city in Iraq that offered solace and embraced Souleyman during recent uneasy times. The move to Erbil came rich with new experiences and friendships best celebrated in joyous songs dedicated to a new chapter of life. Erbil’s 8 tracks see the Syrian wedding singer turned global electronic music icon again teaming up with his longtime keyboard player Hasan Jamo alo for an ever ambitious and forward thinking techno-meets-Dabke sound.
Beyond his move to Erbil, Iraq, the past several years have seen Omar Souleyman receive the GQ Middle East ‘Men of the Year’ award in 2022 (and cover feature), noted massive live performances in Saudi Arabia, United Emirates and the wider Middle East, as well as returning to the USA after a long 6 year break with performances in Los Angeles and New York City, all while his touring continued strong throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
Souleyman, who has collaborated with Björk and Four Tet, began his career as a prolific wedding singer, releasing nearly 500 live albums before civil war broke out in his native Syria in 2011. He then moved to Turkey and in 2013 released his Four Tet-produced debut studio album Wenu Wenu via Ribbon/Domino, which NPR called “…a jam so visceral, thrilling and intense as to make the mysterious matter of earthly borders seem hardly worth the time to contemplate.” His 2015 sophomore album Bahdeni Nami (various producers including Four Tet, Gilles Peterson and Modeselektor) garnered widespread critical praise as well as his two Mad Decent releases: 2017’s To Syria, With Love and 2019’s Shlon, placing Omar Souleyman firmly in the canon of global electronic music.
Souleyman has bolstered his growing status as a world and electronic music icon establishing an extensive international following after touring widely and performing at major festivals including Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Pitchfork Paris and Roskilde. In 2013, he performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Norway.
Yasiin Bey is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His career in hip hop started under the now-forsaken stage name ‘Mos Def’ in 1994, and in 1998 he formed the duo Black Star alongside rapper Talib Kweli, releasing their eponymous debut album, featuring the singles “Definition” and “Respiration”. In 1999 he released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides, which was widely praised, and followed by The New Danger (2004), True Magic (2006), and The Ecstatic (2009), all to critical and audience acclaim. In 2022 with Talib Kweli they released a new long-awaited Black Star album, ‘No Fear of Time’, produced by Madlib, on the podcasting platform Luminary.
The editors of About.com listed him as the 14th greatest rapper on their “50 Greatest Rappers of All Time” list. Some of his top hits include “Oh No”,”Ms. Fat Booty”,“Umi Says” ,and “Mathematics”. Over the course of his career yasiin bey has collaborated with many ofthe most prominent talents in popular, jazz and hip-hop music, including Madlib, Kanye West, De La Soul, Gorillaz, Robert Glasper, Chris ‘Daddy’ Dave, Derrick Hodge, Freddie Gibbs, Erykah Badu to name but a few.
Prior to his career in music, yasiin bey was a child actor with roles in television films, sitcoms, and theatre. Since the early 2000s, he has appeared in the films Something the Lord Made, Next Day Air, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 16 Blocks, Be Kind Rewind, The Italian Job, The Woodsman, Bamboozled, and Brown Sugar, and in television series such as Dexter and House. He is also known as the host of Def Poetry Jam, which aired on HBO between 2002 and 2007.
In 2015, yasiin bey created Negus, is a 28 minute listening experience consisting of 8 compositions recorded in London, produced by Lord Tusk, Steven Julien and Acyde. Negus is presented as an immersive sound installation, that can only be experienced in person. The recording is unavailable for purchase via digital or physical platforms. Bey designed the multi-track recording as an installation to encourage people to be fully present while listening to it.
Yasiin bey has worked with long-time collaborators Dave Chappelle and Talib Kweli to create ‘The Midnight Miracle’ a podcast released on Luminary bringing the three personalities together in a new genre of audio encompassing music, conversation, debate and celebrity guests. The show won Apple Podcasts’ ‘Best Shows of 2021’, and was cited as one of the New York Times’ ‘Best 10 Podcasts of 2021’. Seasons 1 and 2 of the show were recorded during Chappelle’s legendary 2020 Summer Camp in Ohio, and later in New York, London and other locations around the globe, including a live performance at the 2022 Blue Note Jazz Festival in Napa, CA. Later in 2022 he performed with Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock on their record-breaking live US arena tour, and in 2023 he performed a 25-date tour in the United States alongside Erykah Badu.
More recently, Yasiin Bey has toured the UK, Europe and Australasia performing his tribute to the late, great MF Doom ‘BEYONDOOM’, and alongside Talib Kweli as Black Star. He has also developed his activities in design and fashion with brands including Jacques-Marie Mage eyewear, Fueguia Fragrances, and others in apparel to be announced in 2026. He has forthcoming studio album “Forensics”, due to be released in 2026, collaborating with producer and DJ The Alchemist, and other multi-media projects in the pipeline.
KONG is Gorillaz’ own label. The band’s ninth studio album The Mountain is KONG’s first release, with global digital and physical distribution via The Orchard.