{"id":1790275,"date":"2026-02-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790275"},"modified":"2026-02-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1790275","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/a>
\n\t<\/h1>\n
\n

\n\t\t\tTHE ART AND SOUL OF GORILLAZ<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\n

25 years after their self-titled debut album spawned a digital revolution, the world\u2019s best virtual band Gorillaz sit atop The Mountain<\/em> on their ninth studio album. Inspired by their revolutionary trip to India in the wake of both their fathers passing, the record shows that, although Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn may be at the peak of their powers, they ain\u2019t done climbing yet.<\/h3>\n
\n
\"The
(Left to right) full look THOM BROWNE; Russell wears necklaces PEBBLE LONDON.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Once a while, in popular music, indelible change occurs. The Beatles appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, for instance, kickstarting the \u2018British invasion\u2019 on contemporary music and sketching the outlines of what a pop band is \u2013 contours that still remain today. Bob Dylan going electric at Newport Folk Festival, Hendrix\u2019s anti-Vietnam War rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d at Woodstock \u201869, Queen\u2019s legendary Live Aid performance in \u201885. 2Pac and All Eyez On Me<\/em>. The birth of Napster, the launch of iTunes and the eventual domination of Spotify. Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s surprise-released self-titled album. Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cNot Like Us\u201d. The Oasis reunion tour.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Such happenstances shift the industry\u2019s tectonic plates. Culture and perspective move forward (or backwards sometimes, depending on your outlook), and new dogmas are lit from the ashes of seminality. These turning points are what makes modern music what it is today, and what it will be in years to come.<\/p>\n

Another of these pivotal moments came in the fleeting months of the 20th century. Two men, thirty-ish, sat in their shared West London home, licking their wounds from recent well-publicised break-ups, at somewhat of a crossroads in their respective careers. It\u2019d been a decade of acclaim and prosperity for them, but also of disillusionment and disdain for the increasingly shallow nature of the cultural and musical movement that surrounded them. Britpop was once a symbol of playful patriotism and bohemian artistry, but was now an omen of empty vanity and banal fame-seeking.<\/p>\n

Jamie Hewlett, the artist, illustrator and co-creator of 1988-founded anarcho-punk comic strip Tank Girl<\/em>, and Damon Albarn, the frontman and songwriter of one of the country\u2019s biggest bands Blur, watched in displeasure as MTV crashed onto their television screen. On it, a motorway of manufactured bands rolled on, revving their engines as they sat in traffic, impatiently on route to major label record deals and undeserving No.1 singles. The two men agreed that the days when being in a band meant something authentic, something cool, were in danger of a slow, 5ive-fuelled demise. There was nothing new about this music, no edge, no excitement.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
(Left to right) full look THOM BROWNE; Russell wears necklaces PEBBLE LONDON.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

From this conversation birthed the world\u2019s greatest digital band. A four-piece conceived of imaginary animated characters who are by nature \u2018manufactured\u2019, and yet felt and feel more human than most of their real-life contemporaries. A band who, through story-telling, live performance, and digitalism, revolutionised what the word \u2018band\u2019 could even mean, gaining billions of streams and GRAMMY and BRIT Awards in the process. A band who, while most popular music looked to the past for influence, pushed boundaries to model a new era, while addressing and foreshadowing socio-political and environmental issues of the past, present, and future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That band is, of course, Gorillaz. Who, in releasing their ninth album, The Mountain<\/em>, on 27th February 2026, a sprawling, star-studded medley of grief-tinged catharsis, celebration of community, homage to Indian music, and autocracy-imbued warning shots, have reached an apex. A physical and metaphorical summit. The finishing line?<\/p>\n

They both groan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in complete denial about our age,\u201d says 57-year-old Damon with a knowing smile. \u201cI don\u2019t mind my age,\u201d Jamie replies, who\u2019s 10 days younger than his friend of 30 plus years. \u201cBut because we lost our fathers, we\u2019ve moved up a level in the grand computer game of life. We are the patriarchs of the family now. Which is a bit of a shock; who\u2019s supposed to be in charge?\u201d<\/p>\n

The first month of 2026 trundles towards a close as I\u2019m sitting in the kitchen of Studio 13, Damon Albarn\u2019s recording space in West London, drinking a rather delicious cup of coffee made from the Blur frontman\u2019s recently acquired machine. I had arrived 15 minutes early to the several-storied building full of confusingly long corridors and endless doors (finding the toilet is an odyssey), and was escorted to the top floor, to Damon\u2019s personal studio, to wait until the two men were primed for our conversation. I ran into Jamie on my way up. \u201cI need to do 100 squat thrusts before the interview,\u201d he says after we shake hands. \u201cMe too, actually,\u201d I reply.<\/p>\n

Damon\u2019s utopian penthouse is enough to make a musician weak at the knees. Being up there alone feels almost naughty, like waiting for the school headmaster, only the Principal in question is one of Britain\u2019s most important songwriters of his generation. I perch, rather than lounge, on the edge of a bright red couch, frantically stealing glances around the room. There\u2019s a library of instruments and trinkets \u2013 from various acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, synths, modulators, and global musical tools I could only hazard a guess at naming. And then there\u2019s the books themselves: too many to fully take in, from Yuval Noah Harari\u2019s chronicle of people, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind<\/em> to The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs<\/em> from 2012. And there\u2019s a hammock on the balcony outside. I wonder who has laid on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPick away!\u201d Jamie exclaims 10 minutes later, as I\u2019m properly introduced to the pair, and I assure them of the privilege to unravel their minds for a short while. \u201cWell, what\u2019s left of them,\u201d Damon replies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
2-D wears jacket & hat LABRUM LONDON; necklace PEBBLE LONDON.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cYou have to understand that we\u2019ve done a lot of interviews so far and there\u2019s a fear of repeating ourselves,\u201d Jamie continues between puffs on a rollie. Both he and his partner in crime are dressed down, hat on and hood up. Jamie is more whimsical while Damon feels world-weary; both are wise and full of humour. \u201cObviously there are themes that need to be discussed, questions that need to be asked, so we attempt to answer slightly differently.\u201d In the two and a half decade tenure of Gorillaz, press has, not exclusively, but in large, been handled by the band\u2019s four digital avatar members: the endearing frontman 2D, tyrannical bassist Murdoc Niccals, enigmatic guitarist Noodle, and tormented drummer, Russel Hobbs. But now, for this album, The Mountain<\/em>, arguably the duo\u2019s most personal as Gorillaz inspired by a revelatory trip to India in the wake of the passing of both of their fathers, the two men step out from behind the characters to face the curiosity of over-eager journalists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At least they are well-versed in the activity \u2013 Damon especially. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing interviews since 1990,\u201d he reminds me. \u201cWhich is before you were born, I\u2019m sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we meet in the run up to The Mountain\u2019s <\/em>release, both men are keeping busy. Damon no doubt deep in various musical endeavours, including contributions to the forthcoming James Ford-produced War Child Records compilation album, Help(2)<\/em>, alongside Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten, Kae Tempest, Olivia Rodrigo, Geese\u2019s Cameron Winter, and many more. He\u2019s also working on a project that\u2019s in some way AI related, but he can\u2019t talk about it right now. \u201cI\u2019ve written a song for it,\u201d is all he divulges, adding, \u201cand the chorus line is, \u2018You may not recognise here when you get back.\u2019<\/em> That\u2019s it \u2013 don\u2019t expect to understand what you\u2019re playing with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at the beginning of all of my favourite science fiction movies from the \u201890s,\u201d Jamie chimes in on the subject, chuckling. He\u2019s been spending his January working on the artwork for Gorillaz\u2019s Wonderland<\/em> cover story. Watching the process come to life has been a marvel; from human models draped into Thom Browne, to Jamie\u2019s illustrations sketched and coloured atop the images, bringing the four characters to life through his art and extending the band\u2019s animated lineage that stretches back for over 25 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like Damon, Jamie\u2019s recent practice has been openly combative against the tidal wave of artificial intelligence. For The Mountain<\/em>, he stripped back his process, focusing on simple line drawings for the album cover and the index of further imagery, which will feature in a book released alongside the record. \u201cI\u2019m not getting on a soapbox and preaching about it,\u201d he quips. \u201cI\u2019m just attempting to show how beautiful something can be when it\u2019s made by humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emblematic of this is the hand-animated eight minute short film that also accompanies the album\u2019s unveiling. \u201cWe looked back at how Disney made Jungle Book<\/em> and 101 Dalmatians<\/em>,\u201d Jamie explains. \u201cThe techniques that they used, even down to things like putting Vaseline on the lens of the camera to get water effects, and using rostrum cameras, where you have a painting and the camera just moves across the painting and then zooms in. All that really old-fashioned style. The animation company I\u2019m working with called The Line, when I bought them the idea, they got so excited. All the animators were like, \u2018Ah, yes, we don\u2019t do that anymore, how exciting.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
Russell wears jacket KSENIASCHNAIDER; shirt LABRUM LONDON; trousers FENG CHEN WANG; necklace PEBBLE LONDON.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s fitting that the two men who made daring and disruptive in-roads through the digitialisation of music are now among the vanguard fighting back against AI\u2019s imminent takeover. But their methods were never for material gain or searching for a shortcut \u2013 more to prove a point, and to be a vehicle of truth beyond physical possibility.<\/p>\n

Gorillaz\u2019 2001 debut self-titled album came at a pinnacle time for the music industry, as well as both men\u2019s careers. Backed by the ingenuity and uniqueness of Jamie\u2019s animated characters and their slowly unraveling narrative, Damon was able to shapeshift away from his reputation as Blur\u2019s Anglo-laddish frontman (a repute he\u2019d already somewhat escaped from thanks to 13<\/em>, his band\u2019s emotional and stylish Britpop-defying 1999 record), and explore an amalgam of unexplored sonic terrain, from trip to hip-hop and dub. \u201cClint Eastwood\u201d, the album\u2019s breakout single featuring Del the Funky Homosapien, sits on over 1.1 billion streams on Spotify alone, showcasing the band\u2019s artistic and commercial virtue alike.<\/p>\n

Many consider the 2005 follow-up, Demon Days<\/em>, as the Gorillaz quintessential record. It certainly best shows the metamorphosis from invigorating side-project to influential artistic juggernaut. It brought us modern classics like \u201cFeel Good Inc.\u201d and \u201cDARE\u201d, and kick-started the band\u2019s limitless collaborative essence, with contributors ranging from Shaun Ryder to Bootie Brown and De Le Soul. It also depicted a world in transit \u2013 the Twin Towers had fallen, war was raging in the Middle East, the internet was becoming unavoidable. The 21st century was beginning to show itself, and Gorillaz saw it unfolding lucidly. They envisioned a \u201cworld in a state of night,\u201d Damon once described. \u201cWe could see the world changing dramatically and we had no idea what was going to happen,\u201d Jamie says. \u201cIt\u2019s 25 years later, but Demon Days <\/em>is more relevant now than when it first came out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout their catalogue, Gorillaz have presaged the adversities of the near future. Take their third album, early 2010\u2019s Plastic Beach<\/em>, a conceptual and complex depiction of the synthetic world around us, a caution to environmental fears that at the time were met by muted worry, but have become progressively pertinent in the last 16 years. Despite the frightening themes, the LP is among the band\u2019s most musically decadent, ambitious, and radio friendly \u2013 from the serene sorrow of \u201cOn Melancholy Hill\u201d to the anthemic idiosyncrasy of \u201cRhinestone Eyes\u201d. There\u2019s a boat load of contributors, ranging from Kano to Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed, and the bolstering of a huge ensuing world tour, Escape to Plastic Beach<\/em>. But no amount of grandiosity or achievement could hide the dread that lay central to the work \u2013 and the story now seems more forecast than fiction. \u201cYou have to accept that, when you put things out, it\u2019s not going to be understood as well as it will be in the future,\u201d Damon reflects. \u201cAnd you just have to take that knock and hope that you\u2019ll be around long enough to appreciate it when people do appreciate it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd go, \u2018Hey, I told you so! Wankers!\u2019\u201d Jamie appends.<\/p>\n

The Fall<\/em> followed on Christmas Day that same year, a quieter, more meditative album that Damon created on an iPad, before a semi-public falling out between the two men meant that Gorillaz appeared to be, for years, a thing of the past. Eventually though, in 2017, they returned with Humanz<\/em>, a comeback work defined as \u201cthe party for the end of the world,\u201d with the likes of Kali Uchis, Popcaan, and Vince Staples joining in the apocalyptic festivities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Now Now<\/em> came the following year, which held some of the simplest, most polished pop songs of its maker\u2019s career \u2013 although there was still room for a Snoop Dogg feature. Then the COVID-era Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez<\/em>, their most uniquely collaborative record (from Schoolboy Q to Skepta, each song holds at least one feature) that\u2019s presented less like an album, more a series of short-form episodes. Then February 2023\u2019s Cracker Island<\/em>, an album that, with help from Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Thundercat and co, shines like a collectors item of Damon\u2019s many sonic shades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Across all of these musical phases, and with the personal joy, pain, and growth in Damon and Jamie\u2019s lives, 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel have mirrored their makers and acted as vessels of entertainment and expression. From their origins at Kong Headquarters to Murdoc\u2019s multiple spells in prison, to discovering the landfill-made island of Plastic Beach to joining a cult, and most recently escaping to Mumbai when the Los Angeles Police Department issued a warrant \u2013 the story of the Gorillaz has been brought to life through music videos, short films, and various multi-media formats. Watching the four anti-heroes evolve has been a thrilling and ineffable experience that takes the pioneering band far beyond the constructs of reality or a singular artistic construct. Yet they feel so grounded in humanity. So now, over 25 years old, what do they mean to their creator? \u201cThey\u2019re an excuse for us to do what the fuck we want to do,\u201d Jamie smirks. \u201cBehind them, we can do anything we want to do. We can work with anybody we want to work with and talk about any subject we want to talk about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
Murdoc wears jacket CASABLANCA; hat Jamie\u2019s own; rings PEBBLE LONDON.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

While the digital characters hide in India, the two humans travelled to the same nation to feel seen. \u201cWe just love going out and going on adventures more than anything, don\u2019t we?\u201d Damon asks his old friend and creative partner when talk turns to the pair\u2019s significant trip to Asia for the making of The Mountain<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019ve been on a few, haven\u2019t we,\u201d Jamie smiles back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They reminisce on trips they\u2019ve shared, always \u201cdefining moments\u201d in their lives. China, for one. \u201cIt was that amazing moment when China thought they wanted to open up to the West,\u201d Damon remembers. \u201cThe door went ajar and we scurried in and then we left and they shut again,\u201d Jamie adds mischievously. \u201cWe had a police escort which we thought was because we were important but then we realised that they were just keeping an eye on us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

India is the latest of these worldly jaunts. Jamie had been twice prior: his first time was \u201cto the south in 2017 to do a panchakarma [a detoxification program]. I did lots of yoga and flushed my body out and had an MOT. Came back feeling a million dollars and then within a week of being back in London I was back on my bad habits.\u201d His second time was when his mother-in-law suffered a stroke which she sadly would never recover from. He spent weeks in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan in the country\u2019s north-west. A time of grief and sadness, but also seeing something vital and galvanising in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alongside Jamie\u2019s mother-in-law, both his and Damon\u2019s fathers also recently died \u2013 10 days apart, an astounding coincidence given the two sons were born 10 days apart. \u201cI guess it means that when Damon shuffles off this mortal coil, I\u2019ve got 10 days to get my shit together,\u201d the artist jokes. And so, under the shadow of loss, with Jamie\u2019s eye-opening experience in Jaipur and Damon (whose parents were \u201ccommitted hippies\u201d) an inquisitive globetrotter who saw natural synergy with philosophical aspects of Indian culture, the friends decided to take a voyage to India together, to heal, discover, and write a new album.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Death, and the act of dealing with losing the people closest to you, is stitched into The Mountain\u2019s<\/em> mosaic. \u2018You know the hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love,\u2019 <\/em>croons Damon on the hook to \u201cOrange County\u201d, the gorgeous mid track-list ballad that is perhaps the most vivid lens on his melancholy. \u201cWe were both dealing with unfortunate things. Dad things,\u201d he says, quietly. \u201cJust carrying them with us trying to work it through. When you make music in that place, it\u2019s almost impossible not to show it. If it doesn\u2019t, there\u2019s something wrong with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet sonically and tonally, The Mountain<\/em> has some of the most uplifting work in the Gorillaz catalogue, with luscious arrangements and bright, affecting cadences that often burst into euphoric passages of melodious relief. There is an underlying stream of hope coursing through the work, stemming from the search \u201cfor a different version of what happens when you die, opposed to the one that we\u2019ve grown up to believe in,\u201d as Jamie puts it; something they found in India. \u201c[The way we look at death is] so dark in this country,\u201d Damon agrees. \u201cIt\u2019s awful. I\u2019ve been to too many fucking cemeteries off ring roads on grey days. I\u2019ve had enough of it, you know. Just an hour in Varanasi and your faith in humanity is restored.\u201d<\/p>\n

They took more than culture and attitudes towards death from their trip, too. Like The Beatles\u2019s Revolver<\/em>, in instrumental choices, song structuring, and overarching timbre, Indian influence lies at the crux of The Mountain<\/em>. That\u2019s partially thanks to Damon\u2019s life-long fascination with Indian classical music, and also due to the collaborators they worked with from the country. Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, the brotherly duo from Delhi, play the stringed sarod on multiple tracks. Ajay Prasanna, the renowned flautist, pops up several times. And Anoushka Shankar, the daughter of Indian musical icon Ravi Shankar and a distinguished sitar player in her own right, is a glowing presence. Her sitar floats through the album with an air of omniscience, drifting in and out at all the right moments \u2013 a gentle respite from the record\u2019s emotional density. \u201cOh, she\u2019s so intuitive,\u201d Damon lauds.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The standout of the Indian contributions though, comes from Asha Bhosle <\/strong>\u2013 the 92-year-old Queen of Bollywood. \u201cThe very idea that we could meet her was overwhelming really,\u201d Damon says. \u201cWe went to her house because of her granddaughter actually,\u201d Jamie proceeds. \u201cWe spent the afternoon with her and it was really cool. Then we went back, took recording equipment with us and said let\u2019s try something. She hadn\u2019t said yes at that point [to appearing on the album] but she kind of got into it. Damon worked with her in her wonderful apartment in Mumbai and she started to sing\u2026 and then he came back out and said, \u2018We\u2019ve got her on tape!\u2019\u201d And they had; on the breathtaking \u201cShadowy Light\u201d, her words encapsulate the album beautifully: \u2018Lower my boat into the deep end \/ And take me to the other side \/ Where there\u2019s no joy or sorrow \/ No victory or loss \/ Where the universe becomes one with me.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Aside from the Indian collaborators, there is, as always with a Gorillaz LP, a coterie of global guests who sing across five languages (Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, and Yoruba) on The Mountain<\/em>. The age range is miraculous; from 92-year-old Asha to 23-year-old Argentine rap wonderkid Trueno \u2013 who Damon thinks \u201cwas still at school when I met him\u201d \u2013 there\u2019s 70 years worth of generational and geographical perspective. There\u2019s newcomers to the Gorillazverse, like The Roots\u2019s MC Black Thought, folk singer-songwriter Kara Jackson, and IDLES frontman Joe Talbot. And also \u2013 poetically given the theme and purpose of the album \u2013 an array of artists who feature from beyond the grave, such as The Fall\u2019s iconic lead singer Mark E. Smith, Detroit hip-hop goat Proof, soul great Bobby Womack, and Nigerian drummer Tony Allen. \u201cIt\u2019s everything,\u201d Damon says on the breadth of his collaborators. \u201cIt\u2019s about community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mountain<\/em>, released via Kong, the Gorillaz own newly formed label, is available in an assortment of physical manifestations, such as on vinyl, tape and CD. And it\u2019s the type of record that can only be enjoyed one way \u2013 from front to back, like its makers designed it to be. It\u2019s a work that takes you on a transient journey through life and death, wary of the dangers of the modern world, (\u201cThere\u2019s definitely some rather unpleasant Gods on the mountain,\u201d Damon comments on the underlying motif of autocracy), a spiritual and cinematic quest to enlightenment and understanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an album about death, made in hopes of us all better dealing with our impending doom. Did it work? \u201cI suppose when you\u2019ve stared it in the face, whether it\u2019s your own or someone else\u2019s, you\u2019re slightly less [scared],\u201d Damon says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s death isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s death. There\u2019s nothing wrong with imagining what comes after. I think it\u2019s been something that\u2019s preoccupied man since he\u2019s become able to employ an imagination. It\u2019s okay. It\u2019s inevitable and okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
Noodle wears jacket KENZO PARIS; vest KEBURIA; dress AHLUWALIA; shoes DOC MARTENS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI think you should spend your time focusing on being here,\u201d Jamie muses. \u201dWell, this [gestures to his body] gets put in the ground. I won\u2019t be needing this, I\u2019m tired of this. But this [points to his heart] I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m still ruminating on that one. But I do feel better about [death] since our adventures in India and making this record. I do feel less stress in my stomach about it. So I don\u2019t know. I guess that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s stunning cover art sees the four Gorillaz members standing atop a mountain high into the clouds, facing away, surveying the endlessness of the sky. There\u2019s a lot to take from the image \u2013 most obviously, that they are at the summit. So what does that represent in the context of their restlessly innovative creators? They have, in nine albums and across two and a half decades, rewritten the rule book on what a band is, trailblazing artistry for the digital age, while pulling together a web of collaborators that is peerless beyond the point of comparison. It\u2019s a worthy apogee.<\/p>\n

But for Jamie and Damon, there is no beginning nor end \u2013 only new ideas, challenges, and defiance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve been doing it for as long as I have, you always want to try to make it feel like somewhere new, like you have a new destination,\u201d Damon explains. \u201cBut the truth of the matter is, you know what it\u2019s like to play stadiums, you know what it\u2019s like to play little clubs. You know what it\u2019s like to get fucked up, you know what it\u2019s like to fight your demons. You know all of this stuff. So your narratives have to change a bit. It can become so fettered by money and vanity. All of those things. It\u2019s like, you\u2019ve got the opportunity just to explore your creativity in life. What is all of this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That seems like the greatest privilege of all, no? Dedicating one\u2019s life to creativity?<\/p>\n


<\/strong>\u201cOf course it is. That\u2019s it. There\u2019s nothing else. That\u2019s why I get up every day. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve built my entire life around being able to be in nice environments and do my work. Because I love it. From time to time, people who I work with, you can see that they\u2019re losing sight of that. And once you lose sight of that, nothing\u2019s good enough. You\u2019re not happy with the money you\u2019re getting paid, you\u2019re not happy with your environment, with yourself, with anything. Because you\u2019ve lost sight of why you were there in the first place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then you only want blue M&Ms,\u201d Jamie chimes in. \u201cAnd that\u2019s it. You\u2019ve got to keep your ego in check. Because we all have one, and that kind of level of celebrity, 99% of people can\u2019t control that. My biggest joy is sitting down and drawing pictures every day. I couldn\u2019t be fucking happier. I don\u2019t need any of the other bullshit. And working with him means that we get to do that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

I tell them I couldn\u2019t agree more. As someone who profiles famous people for a living \u2013 or people looking for fame, at least \u2013 it\u2019s refreshing, revitalising even, to hear two people at the peak of their respective crafts still carry an indisputable devotion for it.<\/p>\n

Damon Albarn gives half a smile in acknowledgement. \u201cYou know, there was a point in \u201896 or \u201897 when I could have gone and really<\/em> pursued fame. And I did the opposite. I pursued creativity. And I know people who have <\/em>just pursued fame since then. And they are considerably more famous than I am now. But at least I can still get on the tube. That\u2019s fucking brilliant when you want to travel across London.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

We all laugh. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what it all boils down to,\u201d Jamie Hewlett finishes with a buoyant grin at his best friend. \u201cStill being able to go out and buy a pint of milk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gorillaz\u2019 new album The Mountain is out now.\u00a0<\/em>Pre-order Wonderland\u2019s Spring 26 issue here.<\/p>\n

Photography<\/strong> by Keerthana Kunnath
Styling<\/strong> by Abigail Hazard
Words<\/strong> by Ben Tibbits
Set Design<\/strong> by Kate Sutton at Maison Mardi Mgmt
Lighting<\/strong> by Blair Gauld
Digitech<\/strong> Emanuele Moi
Fashion Interns<\/strong> Scarlett Milroy Jiayue Jenny Li
Set Design Assistant<\/strong> Roman Snow
Special Thanks<\/strong> to Fotis Rimer, Sherin Lova at Body London, Michael Magumbe, Joe Joden<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\t24 February 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Editorial<\/a><\/div>\n
Fashion<\/a><\/div>\n
Feature Interview<\/a><\/div>\n
Magazine<\/a><\/div>\n
Music<\/a><\/div>\n
Profiles<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/section>\n

\n\t\t\t\tA League of Her Own<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland THE ART AND SOUL OF GORILLAZ 25 years after their self-titled debut album spawned a digital revolution, the world\u2019s best virtual band Gorillaz sit atop The Mountain on their ninth studio album. Inspired by their revolutionary trip to India in the wake of both their fathers passing, the record shows that, although Jamie Hewlett […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1790275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1790275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1790275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1790275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1790275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}