Gorillaz Tease June Release of New Album The Now Now

Gorillaz are set to release their sixth studio album, The Now Now, the group’s follow-up to last year’s Humanz.

The group was formed by English musician Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett in the early 2000s, though the band technically consists of its four animated members, 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle. During their early years, Hewlett told Wired that he and Albarn created the four characters “[b]ecause if you watch MTV for too long, it’s a bit like hell—there’s nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that.” As a result, the characters are not modeled off of any of the band’s actual musicians.

Gorillaz has teased at the release of the album via a new website, Thenownow.tv, which features retro-funky graphics, a flash of the silhouette of 2-D on guitar and the release date for the album. Hewlett’s wife Emma de Caunes confirmed that The Now Now was a new album through her Instagram, per CoS.

The new album follows a busy 2017 for Gorillaz. After a five-year break, the band released Humanz, confirmed a television show about the animated foursome, created an augmented reality app to celebrate Humanz with a virtual house party and hit the festival circuit for the first time in seven years—oof. And Hewlett and Albarn just kept working: “We’re going straight into the album with no break,” stated Hewlett. “There’s ideas for a few more albums, so we’re going to go straight into that.”

As previously reported, Hewlett indicated that the The Now Now will take the band in a different direction. “Damon started to send me demos for new songs quite early on and that’s always exciting to hear the new direction in the songs that are being made,” said Hewlett. Additionally, Hewlett explained that the album will be a stylistic departure for Gorillaz, as well.

The Now Now will be released on June 29. Check back for more news on Gorillaz.