Gorillaz share new track ‘The God of Lying (feat. IDLES)’
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 God of Lying (feat. IDLES) is the brand new track from Gorillaz, the third single from the band’s forthcoming new studio album The Mountain. Listen HERE. Watch visualiser HERE.
Written by Damon Albarn and Joe Talbot and recorded in London, Devon and Mumbai, with Ajay Prasanna on bansuri and percussion by Viraj Acharya, The God of Lying sees the IDLES frontman bring his maverick charisma to a dub-style vocal that delivers a list of questions and scant consolation to tap into the album’s underlying themes of societal and political unease.
Gorillaz frontman 2D said – “Can I tell you a secret? Doubt is very tiring but questioning things is really good for you.”
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 in Manchester on 20 March 2026 and visit arenas across the UK and Ireland, with headline shows in Birmingham, Glasgow (SOLD OUT), Leeds, Cardiff (SOLD OUT), Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin, to include a second date in Manchester and Dublin, recently added due to demand; 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 below and at Gorillaz.com.
Listen to The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof) HERE and The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks) HERE.
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.
Formed in Bristol in 2009, IDLES are widely recognised as one of the most electrifying, boundary-pushing bands working today. With two UK #1 albums—including 2024’s TANGK—they’ve climbed from underground favourites into a globally resonant, GRAMMY-nominated powerhouse. TANGK, produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, The Smile, Beck), Kenny Beats (Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, Geese) and the band’s own Mark Bowen (who has also produced the forthcoming Florence + The Machine record), earned three GRAMMY nominations (Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance for “Gift Horse”) and drew widespread acclaim, including twenty-one 4★ UK reviews.
The TANGK campaign included a transcendent secret show at London’s Village Underground, a viral AI-deepfake video for “Grace” (reimagining Coldplay’s “Yellow”), and a seminal performance of “Gift Horse” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Their UK tour sold out fully—including two nights at Alexandra Palace, two at Birmingham’s O2 Academy, and three at Manchester’s O2 Apollo—before culminating in two monumental sold-out hometown shows in August at Bristol’s Queen Square, the first major music events at the venue in over two decades.
The band’s reach now extends truly worldwide. In their recent U.S. run, they headlined Forest Hills Stadium in New York— a statement of the band’s growing international stature. And at Glastonbury, IDLES delivered a powerful headline set on Glastonbury’s Other Stage, during which Banksy chose that moment to unveil an inflatable migrant boat carrying dummy passengers—a striking art intervention that became an international news story.
Beyond live shows, IDLES composed and performed the original soundtrack for Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, marking their first foray into major film scoring. Meanwhile, frontman Joe Talbot expanded his creative voice through his new podcast Oh Gatekeeper with Joe Talbot, a candid series featuring guests like Danny Brown, Julian Casablancas, Peaches and others — a platform for exploring art, identity, and the inner life of an artist.
TANGK follows their 2021 critically lauded CRAWLER, which earned IDLES their first two GRAMMY nominations, and builds on the phenomenal impact they’ve had since the incendiary 2017 debut Brutalism — a journey marked by sold-out shows at iconic venues, an Ivor Novello Award win, and BRIT and Mercury Prize nominations.
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.