Gorillaz have released a new single called ‘Skinny Ape’ and announced two virtual shows to be held in New York and London.
Damon Albarn’s group have shared their new track ‘Skinny Ape’ – the fourth to be taken from their upcoming eighth studio album ‘Cracker Island’ which is due for release in February 2023 – and confirmed plans to stage two free concerts in December on both sides of the Atlantic.
The shows are virtual and will be take place in New York City’s Times Square on December 17 while the London leg will take place in Piccadilly Circus on December 18 at 2pm GMT.
A statement – from the band’s animated bassist Murdoc – explained: “To all our followers, get ready for the biggest Times Square takeover since that other gorilla smashed the place up. Bigger in fact cos there’s four of us. Thanks to the techies at Google, we’ve created the music video event of the century, so don your pink robes and come see Gorillaz like you’ve never seen us before. The future is nigh!”
The performances have been described as a “first-of-their-kind immersive experience” and are said to “revolutionise the very concept of musical performance” by featuring special AR technology. They were directed by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett along with French director Fx Goby while the visuals were created by Nexus Studio using Google’s ARCore Geospatial programming interface.
The new album ‘Cracker Island’ is set for release on February 24 2023. ‘Skinny Ape’ was proceeded by three previous singles – ‘Baby Queen’, ‘New Gold’ and ‘Cracker Island’.