Damon Albarn reveals the reason behind the Gorillaz disbandment from 2012
Gorillaz is making a comeback with their latest album called “Humanz.” Marking the band’s fifth studio album so far, “Humanz” is scheduled for a release on April 28, thus bringing the band — and, subsequently, its fans — seemingly back to life. However, the British virtual band had a close call with a disbandment back in 2012, which just goes to show that their background wasn’t always as smooth sailing as others might have perceived.
Recent news has revealed that the band was at the brink of calling it quits five years ago. According to the band’s co-creator David Albarn, he and Jamie Hewlett — also one of the creators of the virtual band — had been roadblocked by a disagreement which had only been further aggravated by the distance placed between the two of them at the time. According to Stereogum, the duo’s falling out — which happened sometime in 2012 — was also the reason behind the long wait of their comeback, as their previous albums, “Plastic Beach” and “The Fall,” had been released back in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
“It’s like a marriage, these creative partnerships,” Albarn told Entertainment Weekly at a recent interview on his relationship with Hewlett and their previous fall out. “But luckily, our kids have grown up together, so we didn’t lose contact completely. And we just sort of found all the bits of the porcelain vase we’d smashed on the floor and stuck it all back together.”
Thankfully, both Albarn and Hewlett managed to work through their differences in order to bring their band back to life. Thus brings their creative venture to where it is today, with the critical reception to “Humanz” being mostly positive. On the prospect of sending the virtual band out on tour, Albarn expressed an interest in such, though the idea of pursuing the concept is still far into the future as the current state of technology will not be enough for a full-blown hologram tour.
“The technology is still not there, and it’s a ways off,” he said. “At some point I’d like to pass on Gorillaz to another generation. The cartoons can go on forever, and the concept of music-making is just collaboration, really. And obviously, I’ll make sure I’ve got a fantastic hologram.”
Created in 1998 by Albarn and Hewlett (who has provided illustrations and character designs for the band since its conception), the band features fictional animated characters 2-D (lead vocals and keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar and vocals), Noodle (guitar and keyboards) and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). The fictional universe of the Gorillaz has only expanded over the years, branching out to other forms of media such as short cartoon and, more recently, an augmented reality app.
