Gorillaz’ new album The Mountain stems from the “tragic story” of Jamie Hewlett’s mother-in-law’s death.
The band – which was created by the artist and Blur’s Damon Albarn and is fronted by cartoon characters 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle – had been working on new music in Serbia when Jamie received a call from his wife to say her mother had been rushed to hospital after suffering a stroke, prompting him to fly out to join her.
Although his mother-in-law passed away, Jamie had the time to “fall in love” with India during the eight weeks he was out there, and decided he and Damon needed to return together.
Damon told The Sun newspaper: “The original impetus came from quite a tragic story. We were in Belgrade finishing off a video when Jamie got a call from Jaipur in India. It was from his wife Emma, saying, ‘My mum’s in a coma’.”
Jamie continued: “They had been there for a month at an Ayurvedic retreat (a system focused on balancing mind, body and spirit).
“They had packed their suitcases, had called a taxi and were just on their way home when my mother-in-law had a stroke.
“She was rushed to the closest hospital in Jaipur — it’s all about speed when you have a stroke…
“It was a very traumatic experience but, in between those visits, we were able to explore Jaipur.
“I just fell in love with the place. The people were so warm and I discovered that the whole subject of death is viewed from a very different perspective.“When I was in the hospital, people were visiting loved ones who were dying.
“There were tears but, at the same time, there was a feeling of celebration in the belief that they were coming back in an another form.”
Both Damon and Jamie knew returning to India would be the “perfect opportunity” for Gorillaz and made plans to do so once the Country House singer’s comeback tour with Blur was over.
Jamie said: “Damon was in touch with me the whole time I was there. When I came home, I said to him, ‘We need to go to India together to see if we can do something’. A year later (after Blur’s reunion), we were off…
“We thrive on finding ourselves in different cultures — and there’s so much to take from a place like India, even if somewhere as big as that can’t be grappled with immediately.”
Damon added: “I saw it as the perfect opportunity to give the whole world of Gorillaz a nice, new kickstart. I was just waiting for an excuse to go there.
“I grew up in Leytonstone where my school was 30/40 per cent Asian. My dad was very into Indian classical music so I was genuinely listening to (sitar player) Ravi Shankar at the same time as The Beatles.”
In July 2024, both men lost their fathers within 10 days of one another, and Damon found comfort in returning to India to scatter Keith Albarn’s ashes in the Ganges.
He said: “Grief manifests itself in so many ways.
“You don’t overcome it but you can learn to accept it and going to Varanasi definitely helped.
“This place has been inhabited for 5,000 years and it’s where families have burned their loved ones every day, every night, for all that time.
“The fire rituals are wonderful, so poetic — almost like an inhalation and an exhalation.
“The idea that people pause at sunset, light fires and sing is so beautiful. Harder to do in northern Europe where cloud can bruise the spirit!”