“It was like panning for gold. Amongst the brown murky waters, I saw this track all shiny and glimmery, shining like a big rock of gold. It said, 'Play me, play me!”: How Gorillaz deployed some sublime music theory to build their most beloved tune

Gorrilaz.

The brainchild of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and artist/illustrator Jamie Hewlett, the fictitious band Gorillaz were quite a unique concept when first introduced to the world via 2001’s Clint Eastwood. Today, in a world dominated by virtual artists and AI-generated tracks, the overtly non-existent conceit of the group now feels highly prophetic.

What clearly wasn’t virtual was the band’s music, which was painstakingly created with a variety of real human creative contributors, spawning a wide array of brilliance across the band’s impressive and diverse discography.