The Creation of Gorillaz's Album Plastic Beach

Musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, the creators of Gorillaz, started developing a new project in November 2007 called Carousel, which eventually became Plastic Beach, the band’s third studio album. When asked about his main focus for 2008 in the November 2007 issue of Q, Damon Albarn stated, “Well, I’m doing the next Gorillaz thing, but it won’t be called Gorillaz.”

In a February 2008 interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Jamie Hewlett provided further details, explaining, “I think the idea behind it is that it’s like how The Who presented their movies – Tommy and Quadrophenia and so on. Those were presented as by ‘The Who’ even though none of the members of the band were in the movies. I don’t think anyone from The Who was in Quadrophenia. But it’s the same people working on it, that’s the principle.”

This insight into the project's conceptual foundation reveals the unique approach Albarn and Hewlett took during the early stages of Plastic Beach.
In an interview with the Observer, Jamie Hewlett explained how the concept of Gorillaz had evolved: “Gorillaz now to us is not like four animated characters anymore – it’s more like an organization of people doing new projects. That’s my ideal model – Gorillaz is a group of people who gave you this and now want to give you new stuff.”
Hewlett also discussed an ambitious new project he and Damon Albarn were working on, called Carousel. He described it as “even bigger and more difficult than Monkey,” acknowledging the challenges ahead: “It isn’t going to fit anywhere, and no one’s going to like it, ha ha ha! We’ve started work – I’ve done a lot of visuals, and Damon’s done a lot of music, but we haven’t figured out how they’re going to fit together.”

Delving deeper into the project’s concept, Hewlett said, “I can’t say much about it yet, but it’s sort of like a film, but it does not have one narrative story. There are many stories told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles; well… originally, it was a film. Still, now we think it’s a film, and it’s a stage thing as well, and… look, it’s basically us doing what we want without worrying about whether it’s for a record company or a film company or whatever.”
Despite the uncertainty of its completion, Hewlett revealed that Albarn had already written about 70 songs for the project, and he had ambitious plans for the visuals: “Right now, at this moment, it’s still just a really good idea.” The concept for Carousel was rooted in exploring the mystical aspects of Britain.

Concept

Damon Albarn developed the idea for Plastic Beach while spending time on a beach near his home. He explained, “I was just looking for all the plastic within the sand.” On September 17, 2008, Albarn and Jamie Hewlett confirmed they were working on another Gorillaz album during an interview with CBC News. Hewlett reflected on what they had gained from their work on Monkey: “We just learned more about what we do, musically and artistically. That’s a great place to come at when we come to another Gorillaz album. It doesn’t have to be animation and music.”

Hewlett also shared his frustration with repeatedly drawing the same band characters. “I’m so bored of drawing those characters,” he admitted, but noted a turning point in their creative process: “But then we had a moment where we had a new angle on it… I’m gonna adapt them.” In a later interview, he elaborated: “They’ll be the same characters, but a little bit older and told in a different way.”

In September 2008, Albarn shared his vision for Plastic Beach, saying he aimed “to work with an incredibly eclectic, surprising cast of people.” Like previous Gorillaz albums, Plastic Beach includes numerous collaborations with a diverse range of musicians and music groups. The album features contributions from Snoop Dogg, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Kano, Bashy, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Mark E. Smith, Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Yukimi Nagano, sinfonia ViVA, and The Syrian National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music.

Recording

Damon Albarn started working on new Gorillaz material around June 2008. In March 2009, he traveled to Beirut to record with the National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. The following month, he collaborated with Sinfonia ViVa, an orchestra based in Derby. During the recording of “White Flag,” grime artists Kano and Bashy, who feature on the track, were both sick with the flu. Kano later said, “We weren’t feeling great, the music was out of our comfort zone, and it could have been a complete disaster.”

Bobby Womack, initially unfamiliar with Gorillaz, hesitated about the collaboration until his daughter, a fan of the band, encouraged him to participate. For “Stylo,” Womack was asked to sing whatever came to his mind. He later shared, “I was in there for an hour going crazy about love and politics, getting it off my chest.” During the session, Womack, who has diabetes, began to pass out. He was given a banana to recover and was back to normal within minutes.

“Sweepstakes,” Mos Def’s first recording with Gorillaz, was completed in a single take. Mos Def described it as “one of the greatest things as an MC that I’ve ever done.” Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, who worked on the title track “Plastic Beach,” finished their contributions in just one day.

Several artists who contributed to tracks for the album ultimately did not have their songs included in the final release. Some collaborators, previously announced as part of the project, are not featured on the album. British garage rock band The Horrors, invited to contribute after Damon Albarn heard their 2009 album Primary Colours, recorded a track with him. However, none of their work made it onto the album.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Posdnuos from De La Soul shared that the group recorded vocals for two tracks, “Electric Shock” and “Sloped Tropics.” Despite this, De La Soul is only featured on “Superfast Jellyfish.” Gruff Rhys also contributed two tracks – “Superfast Jellyfish” and “Leviathan.” He described the latter as “a night-time song, a three o’clock in the morning, speeding down the autobahn evading West German police-type track,” which was ultimately left off the album.

Mos Def noted that he worked with Albarn on three songs but appeared on only two tracks in the final version. Albarn had mentioned that Barry Gibb would be part of the album, but Gibb did not attend any recording sessions. Similarly, the animated Gorillaz bassist Murdoc claimed that the band collaborated with actress Una Stubbs, yet she does not appear on any of the album’s tracks.

Music

In an interview, Damon Albarn shared his vision for the album, saying, "I’m making this one the most pop record I’ve ever made in many ways, but with all my experience, I want to try and at least present something that has depth." He further explained, "I suppose what I’ve done with this Gorillaz record is I’ve tried to connect pop sensibility with … trying to make people understand the essential melancholy of buying a ready-made meal in loads of plastic packaging. People who watch X Factor might have some emotional connection to these things, this detritus that accompanies what seems to be the most important thing in people’s eyes, the celebrity voyeurism."

The first time Damon Albarn visited Mali, he was taken to a landfill where he observed people meticulously salvaging materials. “Taking every little bit, a little bit of fabric to the fabric regenerators, or the metal and the cans to the ironsmiths and the aluminum recyclers, and it goes on, and by the time you get to the road, they’re selling stuff,” he said. When Albarn later visited a landfill outside London to record the sound of seagulls for the album, he noticed a stark contrast in how the two countries managed waste.

“They’ve got more snakes… like adders, grass snakes, slow worms, toads, frogs, newts, all kinds of rodents, all kinds of squirrels, a massive amount of squirrels, a massive amount of foxes, and obviously, seagulls. This is part of the new ecology. And for the first time, I saw the world in a new way," Albarn explained. "I’ve always felt, I’m trying to get across on this new record, the idea that plastic, we see it as being against nature, but it’s come out of nature. We didn’t create plastic; nature created plastic. And just seeing the snakes like living in the warmth of decomposing plastic bags. They like it. It was a strange kind of optimism that I felt… but trying to get that into pop music is a challenge, anyway. But important.”

Albarn mentioned that the album carries much of the melancholy that was present in Carousel. He worked to ensure the lyrics and melodies were clear and impactful. While a significant amount of orchestral material was recorded during production, only a small portion made it onto the final version of the album.

Themes

Plastic Beach delves deeply into themes of environmental degradation, consumerism, and the disconnection between humanity and nature. At its core, the album reflects on the growing prevalence of plastic and waste in modern life, symbolized by the titular "Plastic Beach," a place made entirely of discarded, synthetic materials. Damon Albarn has described the record as a meditation on the irony of how something unnatural, like plastic, is now an integral part of the natural world. The album also critiques the commodification of culture and the ways modern consumer habits contribute to environmental harm, linking these ideas to broader concerns about sustainability and ecological balance. Musically, the album’s eclectic collaborations and diverse genres mirror the fractured and globalized nature of modern society. Tracks like “Rhinestone Eyes” and “Stylo” encapsulate a sense of melancholy and urgency, highlighting humanity's detachment from the planet and its growing dependence on artificial materials and conveniences. Meanwhile, songs like “White Flag” and “Superfast Jellyfish” juxtapose joyful, upbeat sounds with underlying messages about environmental exploitation and the dangers of unchecked consumption. Through these themes, Plastic Beach not only tells a story of a polluted future but also calls attention to the present-day environmental crisis, urging listeners to reflect on their roles in shaping a more sustainable world.

Release and Promotion

On December 9, 2009, a new image of Gorillaz was featured on the cover of the UK edition of Wired magazine. Shortly after, on January 14, 2009, Damon Albarn appeared as a guest DJ on BBC Radio 1, where he debuted demos of three new tracks: “Electric Shock,” “Broken,” and “Stylo.”
The track “Stylo” underwent significant changes before its final release, while “Broken” remained largely the same. However, “Electric Shock” did not make it onto the album. Elements of the song were repurposed, with samples being incorporated into “Rhinestone Eyes.” Additionally, the orchestral introduction from “Electric Shock” was reworked into the bonus track “Three Hearts, Seven Seas, Twelve Moons.”

Website Revamp and New Features

On January 20, 2010, the Gorillaz official website underwent a major transformation to reflect the Plastic Beach theme. Over time, several short clips were shared on the site, primarily showcasing different views of a large Plastic Beach model set to snippets of new Gorillaz music. Out of the 13 clips posted, only two featured audio that made it onto the album: “White Flag” and “Pirate’s Progress,” the latter being an extended version of the album’s Orchestral Intro. A countdown timer was also added to the site, which reached zero on February 23, 2010. Following some delays, an interactive "Beachsite" inspired by Kong Studios was launched, allowing visitors to explore sections of Plastic Beach.
Murdoc's Radio Appearances

On January 21, 2010, Gorillaz member Murdoc took over NME Radio and Yahoo! Radio. During a 45-minute segment, he played a selection of songs while narrating Gorillaz's backstory. Four broadcasts in total were made available online as part of the lead-up to the album's release. These broadcasts can now be found on the official Gorillaz website.

Animated Idents for Band Members

Short animated "idents" have been released, showcasing fictional Gorillaz band members Murdoc, 2D, Russel, and the Noodle cyborg. The first ident features Murdoc running away from an unidentified attacker armed with a rifle. The second shows 2D being abducted and transported to Plastic Beach by a masked individual. This ident includes a snippet of the song "Three Hearts, Seven Seas, Twelve Moons" playing in the background, which is available as a bonus track along with "Pirate’s Progress" on the iTunes Deluxe edition.
Russel's ident depicts him walking off the edge of a pier and diving into the ocean, seemingly on his way to Plastic Beach for an unknown reason. Another ident zooms in on the cyborg, revealing its open faceplate.

A fifth ident portrays a luxury cruise under attack by torpedo planes. A crew member urgently informs a passenger in cabin 13 – revealed to be Noodle, wearing an Oni Mask – that pirates are attacking the ship. He advises her to head to the lifeboats, but Noodle instead opens a briefcase, revealing a gun, and moves past him, apparently preparing to confront the attackers. This ident serves as a teaser for the "On Melancholy Hill" music video, which premiered on June 15.

Album Promotion

On February 26, 2010, a "minimix" of Plastic Beach was made available for free download on the Gorillaz official website. This eight-minute compilation featured a blend of tracks from the album, including several songs that had not been previously released.

On February 28, 2010, three tracks – “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach,” “Rhinestone Eyes,” and “White Flag” – premiered on the Australian radio station Triple J. Each track aired at one-hour intervals. The following day, March 1, 2010, NPR provided a full album stream, which was later made available on Guardian.co.uk as well.

Singles

As of August 2010, the album has produced two singles:

• "Stylo": The first single, released digitally on January 26, 2010.
• "On Melancholy Hill": The second single, released exclusively on iTunes on June 15, 2010. This track replaced "Superfast Jellyfish" as the album's second single.