See Gorillaz’s Short Film ‘The Mountain the Moon Cave and the Sad God’

In Gorillaz‘s new short film, The Mountain, the Moon Cave and the Sad God, characters 2D, Russel, Noodle, and Murdoc are on a journey through an Indian landscape that looks a lot like The Jungle Book, complete with a googly-eyed python and a menacing tiger, as they queue up for the unveiling of a spectacular mountain view. The clip coincides with the arrival of the band’s ninth album, The Mountain.

As the title suggests, the clip fuses together three songs from the record: the Indian-influenced “The Mountain” and indie-rock-cum-hip-hop (aka Gorillaz-like) “The Moon Cave,” which open the album, and “The Sad God,” which closes the LP. Musicians featured on the three tracks include Bobby Womack, Anoushka Shankar, and the late De La Soul MC Trugoy the Dove.

Gorillaz’s visual artist, Jamie Hewlett, directed the clip, which took 18 months to make, with the studio the Line. It was made with hand-painted backgrounds and real materials in a nod to the 2D animation features of the 20th century.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, both Hewlett and Damon Albarn, who holds the musical center of Gorillaz, said they didn’t consider using AI when working together. “For me personally, I wouldn’t use it in my work,” Hewlett said. “But at the same time, AI, if you’re using it in the art world, is a tool. Just like when Photoshop arrived on the scene. It’s what do you do with it really that matters.”

“I think it’s too soon to say whether we can fall in love with it,” Albarn said. “It’s like Mao, when he was asked about the French Revolution, he said, ‘It’s too soon to tell.’”