Cracker Island is the eighth studio album by English virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on the 24th February 2023.
The album spawned six singles: Cracker Island, New Gold, Baby Queen, Skinny Ape, Silent Running and Tormenta. It received mostly positive reviews, with the album debuting at number one on the UK Album Charts and number three on the US Billboard 200, making it the first Gorillaz album to reach number one in the UK since Demon Days in 2005.
Background[]
Tormenta, a song made in collaboration with Bad Bunny, was the first completed track that ended up on the album. It was originally intended to be the lead single for the second season of Song Machine, before the project got shelved in favor of a traditional studio album.[1] New Gold, a track made in collaboration with Tame Impala and Bootie Brown, has been in production since 2020, and was also originally supposed to be a part of the Song Machine series.[2]
The actual work on the album began in 2021, after the production of the Unnamed Gorillaz Movie was stopped when Netflix had withdrawn from the project. American record producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Greg Kurstin has been the main producer for the record, alongside Damon Albarn and Remi Kabaka Jr.. Silent Running was the first track that Kurstin had worked on, and it was quickly followed by the production of the lead single, Cracker Island. According to Albarn, the new album was already completed by May of 2022.[3]
The lead single for the album, Cracker Island, was released on the 22nd June 2022. Promotion for the album began with the Gorillaz World Tour 2022, during which both Cracker Island and Silent Running were played live - the former of which has been played at every show of the tour to date. Similarly, New Gold was also first played live on the tour, on 19th August 2022.
Album's title, release date and tracklist were revealed on the 31st August 2022, along with the release of the New Gold single.
In September, tracks Skinny Ape and Possession Island were played live on the Gorillaz World Tour 2022. After Cracker Island, New Gold and Skinny Ape debuted live, they became a part of the regular setlist for the Gorillaz World Tour. Silent Running has only been played live once, and Possession Island twice, with Beck, during the LA leg of the show.
The song Baby Queen was released on the FIFA 23 soundtrack on the 30th September after leaking earlier that month. It was later officially released as a single on the 4th November 2022. Skinny Ape was released as the album's fourth single on the 8th December 2022, and an Immersive Live Performance of the song was announced for December 17th and 18th. Silent Running was released as the album's fifth and final single on the 27th January, 2023.
The Cracker Island album was released on 24 February, 2023. The digital-exclusive Deluxe Edition, containing five additional tracks, was released on 27 February, 2023, having been accidentally leaked by Brazilian news platform Nação da Música during the Standard Edition's release on 24th February, 2023.[4] .
Tracklist[]
The standard track list was revealed on 31st August, 2022. The Standard Edition of the album consists of ten standard tracks and two bonus tracks.
Standard Track Listing[]
| CD & Digital | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | 'Cracker Island' (feat. Thundercat) | 3:34 | ||||||||
| 2. | 'Oil' (feat. Stevie Nicks) | 3:50 | ||||||||
| 3. | 'The Tired Influencer' | 3:31 | ||||||||
| 4. | 'Silent Running' (feat. Adeleye Omotayo) | 4:26 | ||||||||
| 5. | 'New Gold' (feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown) | 3:35 | ||||||||
| 6. | 'Baby Queen' | 3:40 | ||||||||
| 7. | 'Tarantula' | 3:31 | ||||||||
| 8. | 'Tormenta' (feat. Bad Bunny) | 3:13 | ||||||||
| 9. | 'Skinny Ape' | 4:41 | ||||||||
| 10. | 'Possession Island' (feat. Beck) | 3:26 | ||||||||
Total length: |
37:26 | |||||||||
| Japanese CD | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 11. | 'Crocadillaz' (feat. De La Soul and Dawn Penn) | 2:32 | ||||||||
Total length: |
39:58 | |||||||||
| Apple Music Standard Edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 11. | 'Silent Running (2D Piano Version)' (feat. Adeleye Omotayo) | 4:23 | ||||||||
Total length: |
41:49 | |||||||||
| Vinyl & Cassette (different order) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | 'Cracker Island' (feat. Thundercat) | 3:34 | ||||||||
| 2. | 'Oil' (feat. Stevie Nicks) | 3:50 | ||||||||
| 3. | 'The Tired Influencer' | 3:31 | ||||||||
| 4. | 'Tarantula' | 3:31 | ||||||||
| 5. | 'Silent Running' (feat. Adeleye Omotayo) | 4:26 | ||||||||
| 6. | 'New Gold' (feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown) | 3:35 | ||||||||
| 7. | 'Baby Queen' | 3:40 | ||||||||
| 8. | 'Tormenta' (feat. Bad Bunny) | 3:13 | ||||||||
| 9. | 'Skinny Ape' | 4:41 | ||||||||
| 10. | 'Possession Island' (feat. Beck) | 3:26 | ||||||||
Total length: |
37:26 | |||||||||
Deluxe Track Listing[]
| Digital | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | 'Cracker Island' (feat. Thundercat) | 3:34 | ||||||||
| 2. | 'Oil' (feat. Stevie Nicks) | 3:50 | ||||||||
| 3. | 'The Tired Influencer' | 3:31 | ||||||||
| 4. | 'Silent Running' (feat. Adeleye Omotayo) | 4:26 | ||||||||
| 5. | 'New Gold' (feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown) | 3:35 | ||||||||
| 6. | 'Baby Queen' | 3:40 | ||||||||
| 7. | 'Tarantula' | 3:31 | ||||||||
| 8. | 'Tormenta' (feat. Bad Bunny) | 3:13 | ||||||||
| 9. | 'Skinny Ape' | 4:41 | ||||||||
| 10. | 'Possession Island' (feat. Beck) | 3:26 | ||||||||
| 11. | 'Captain Chicken' (feat. Del The Funky Homosapien) | 1:51 | ||||||||
| 12. | 'Controllah' (feat. MC Bin Laden) | 2:30 | ||||||||
| 13. | 'Crocadillaz' (feat. De La Soul and Dawn Penn) | 2:32 | ||||||||
| 14. | 'Silent Running (2D Piano Version)' (feat. Adeleye Omotayo) | 4:23 | ||||||||
| 15. | 'New Gold (Dom Dolla Remix)' (feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown, remix by Dom Dolla) | 4:34 | ||||||||
Personnel[]
Credits adapted from the album liner notes.
Virtual[]
- Murdoc 'Faust' Niccals, The Great Leader – bass guitar
- Stuart '2-D' Pot, The Chosen One – vocals, keyboard, synthesizer
- Russel Hobbs, Seeker Of Truth – drums, percussion
- Noodle, The Scholar – guitar
Musicians[]
- Damon Albarn – vocals (minus deluxe track 13), synthesisers (tracks 1–7, 9–10, deluxe tracks 11-13, 15), electric guitar (tracks 2, 9), piano (tracks 3–4, 7, 10, deluxe track 14), bass (minus deluxe track 14), keyboards (track 8), acoustic guitar (track 9), Mellotron (track 10)
- Greg Kurstin – keyboards (tracks 1–9, deluxe track 15), synthesisers (tracks 1–7, 9–10, deluxe tracks 11–12), drums (tracks 1–4, 6–7, 9), percussion (tracks 1–3, 5–7, 9), bass (tracks 2–7, 10), electric guitars (tracks 3–4, 6–7, 10), piano (tracks 3–4, 6), marimba (track 3), guitars (track 5), vibraphone (tracks 6, 10), congas (track 7), Mellotron, acoustic guitar, pump organ (track 10)
- Thundercat – vocals, bass (track 1)
- Stevie Nicks – vocals (track 2)
- Adeleye Omotayo – vocals (track 4, deluxe track 14)
- Tame Impala – vocals, synthesisers, bass, guitar, drums, Wurlitzer (track 5, deluxe track 15)
- Bootie Brown – vocals (track 5, deluxe track 15)
- Bad Bunny – vocals, keyboards, percussion (track 8)
- Remi Kabaka Jr. – drums, drum programming, percussion (track 8, deluxe tracks 11–13)
- Tainy – drum programming (track 8)
- Beck – vocals (track 10)
- Del The Funky Homosapien – vocals (deluxe track 11)
- Jeff Wootton – guitar (deluxe track 11)
- Seye Adelekan – bass (deluxe track 11)
- MC Bin Laden – vocals (deluxe track 12)
- Bernado Pauleira – whistle (deluxe track 12)
- De La Soul (Dave) – vocals (deluxe track 13)
- Dawn Penn – vocals (deluxe track 13)
- Dom Dolla – remix (deluxe track 15)
Technical[]
- Damon Albarn – production
- Greg Kurstin – engineering (all tracks), production (tracks 1–7, 9–10, deluxe tracks 11–12)
- Remi Kabaka Jr. – production (tracks 1–2, 6, 8)
- Kevin Parker – production, engineering (track 5, deluxe track 15)
- Tainy – production (track 8)
- Samuel Egglenton – engineering
- Julian Burg – engineering
- Matt Tuggle – engineering
- Henri Davies – engineering (tracks 2–3, 6, 10)
- Joel Workman – engineering (track 2)
- David Reitzas – engineering (track 5, deluxe track 15)
- Federico Fogolia – engineering (track 5, deluxe track 15)
- Tim Visser – engineering (track 8)
- Darren Jones – engineering (deluxe track 12)
- Giacomo Vianello – engineering (deluxe track 14)
- Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
- Matt Wolach – mixing assistance
- Stephen Sedgwick – mixing assistance (track 8)
- Randy Merrill – mastering
- Estavo – recording (deluxe track 12)
- Kevin Douglas – recording (deluxe track 12)
- Cody Cichowski – recording (deluxe track 13)
Artwork[]
- Jamie Hewlett – artwork, design
- Stars Redmond – assistance
Gallery[]
|
|
|
| The full image gallery for Cracker Island (album) may be viewed at Cracker Island (album)/Gallery. |
Trivia[]
- Cracker Island is the third Gorillaz album that was at least partially produced from content intended for a scrapped Gorillaz movie, this time from the Gorillaz Netflix Movie. The first two were Demon Days, which was adapted from cancelled Celebrity Harvest, and Plastic Beach, adapted from Carousel.
- Because of a mixup within the vinyl pressing company, GZ Media, many fans who bought the web store-exclusive Translucent Purple record received the Spotify exclusive Baby Pink one, and those who bought the Spotify exclusive version received the web store one. Shortly afterwards, those whose orders had not been fulfilled were sent the correct record they had ordered in a generic white sleeve.
References[]
- ↑ ""Damon Albarn confirms Gorillaz collaboration with Bad Bunny"" (20 September 2021).
- ↑ ""Damon Albarn hints at Gorillaz and Tame Impala collaboration for ‘Song Machine: Season Two’"" (28 October 2020).
- ↑ ""Radio 1's Future Sounds with Clara Amfo: Gorillaz & Tame Impala Hottest Record"" (31 August 2022).
- ↑ ""Resenha: “Cracker Island” (Deluxe) – Gorillaz (2023)"" (25 February 2022).