Dec 08, 2022
By Joey Arnone
Damon Albarn’s virtual band Gorillaz have shared a new single, “Skinny Ape.” The song will be performed live by the band at 2:30 pm ET on December 17th in Times Square and 14:00 GMT on December 18th in Piccadilly Circus. Directed by Jamie Hewlett and Fx Goby, the ‘Skinny Ape’ performances are created by Nexus Studios and utilize Google’s ARCore Geospatial API, using AR to transform public spaces. Listen to the new song and view the trailer below.
Gorillaz’ virtual bass player, Murdoc Niccals, states in a press release: “To all our followers, get ready for the biggest Times Square takeover since that other gorilla smashed the place up. Bigger in fact cos there’s four of us. Thanks to the techies at Google, we’ve created the music video event of the century, so don your pink robes and come see Gorillaz like you’ve never seen us before. The future is nigh!”
Cracker Island features musical contributions from Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Bad Bunny and Beck. It was produced by the band alongside Greg Kurstin and Remi Kabaka Jr.
In June, Gorillaz shared the album’s title track, “Cracker Island,” featuring Thundercat. Upon announcement of the album in August, they shared the single “New Gold,” featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown. It was also one of our Songs of the Week.
Last year, Gorillaz released the EP Meanwhile. Their most recent album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, came out in October 2020.