Gorillaz have unveiled Orange County, a new track that arrives alongside companion piece The Hardest Thing as the latest glimpse into their forthcoming ninth studio album The Mountain, out February 27, 2026 on the band’s newly launched label KONG. Released together as a limited-edition Double A-side 7” and intended to be heard as a single eight-minute movement, the two tracks form a quiet emotional axis at the centre of the album.
Written by Damon Albarn, The Hardest Thing opens with the voice of the late Tony Allen, Albarn’s longtime collaborator and friend. The song reflects on grief with a plainspoken weight, its central line — “the hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love” — carrying directly into Orange County. Where the former sits with loss, the latter moves forward, folding hope into motion.
Orange County brings together an unlikely but carefully balanced group of collaborators. Albarn is joined by Kara Jackson on vocals and Anoushka Shankar, with production handled by Gorillaz alongside Argentine producer Bizarrap. The result leans into melody and rhythm rather than spectacle, allowing voices and textures to interlock gradually rather than compete.
The Mountain is described as an expansive, collaborative record, continuing Gorillaz’ long-standing practice of assembling global voices into a single, shifting frame. Across its 15 tracks, the album features contributions from artists including Johnny Marr, Black Thought, Paul Simonon, Sparks and Yasiin Bey, alongside archival voices from figures such as Bobby Womack and Mark E Smith. The record frames life as a passage rather than a destination, attentive to both presence and absence.
The album’s release will be followed by The Mountain Tour, which opens in March 2026 and includes a one-off headline show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Together, the new music and live plans position The Mountain as a reflective but outward-looking chapter in Gorillaz’ ongoing story.
Stream it HERE.
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