In Between

I’ve been cycling Gorillaz through my headphones for probably twenty years now, so waiting for new material has become its own permanent state. While 2D and the crew are working on whatever’s next, Noodle—the animated guitarist and keyboardist—dropped a mixtape on SoundCloud called 私 Noodle❗️ and it’s legitimately good.

It’s got Grimes, Lully, and Anna Meredith on it, and there’s no dead weight. Every song feels like it was chosen because she actually wanted to hear it, not because it fit some idea of what a mixtape should be. That’s always been the Gorillaz way—taste first, everything else follows. Sometimes that taste points you toward weird places, but it never feels accidental.

I don’t know if this means the band’s working on something new or if Noodle just needed to get these sounds out of her system. Doesn’t really matter. It’s one of those things that makes you remember why you got hooked on their music in the first place.