Gorillaz is the creation of musician Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. They’re a virtual band made up four animated characters. Their songs are written by Damon Albarn and a roster of collaborators. Since the first album was released in 2001, Gorillaz have sold over 16 million records worldwide. In this episode, Damon breaks down the song "Andromeda" from the 2017 Gorillaz album Humanz. It’s a dance song, but also an elegy to people in his life who he’s lost, like legendary soul singer Bobby Womack, a former Gorillaz collaborator. Andromeda features guest vocals by the rapper and singer D.R.A.M., whose own hit single, "Broccoli," went quadruple platinum in 2016. Coming up later, D.R.A.M. tells the story of how he got involved with this track, and Damon shares an exclusive clip of a scrapped version of the song with D.R.A.M. on lead vocals.
(This episode contains explicit language.)
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King Princess - Let Us Die
Book Exploder: Tayari Jones - An American Marriage
Panic! At the Disco - Viva Las Vengeance
Book Exploder: Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House
Re-issue: Björk - Stonemilker
Book Exploder: Michael Cunningham - The Hours
Madonna - Hung Up
Book Exploder: Min Jin Lee - Pachinko
Kae Tempest - Move
Book Exploder: Susan Orlean - The Library Book
Sudan Archives - Selfish Soul
mxmtoon - Mona Lisa
Monica Martin - Go Easy, Kid
Maren Morris - Humble Quest
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Kevin Morby - This Is a Photograph
Arooj Aftab - Mohabbat
Partners: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her
Steve Reich - Different Trains: America, Before the War
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