The Best Band in the World Sort of Doesn't Exist

It was the year 2001, and Damon Albarn had just survived the Britpop wars. The press, the rivalry with Oasis, the scrutiny of being a rockstar. Damon was exhausted, disillusioned and honestly a little lost. One night he called up his old flatmate, comic artist Jamie Hewlett, and they conceptualised four animated characters. No real faces. No real press tours. Just the music and a whole fictional universe. That call led to what we now know as Gorillaz.

Visuals play a crucial role in pop music, sometimes as memorable as the music itself, and no one pays as much attention to visuals as them. This is evident throughout their discography, especially 2005's "Demon Days."

And the lore? These characters have backstories, beef with each other and fictional interviews. Murdoc Niccals, the bassist, has his own Wikipedia page of crimes. It is a full cinematic universe before cinematic universes were cool, and a rabbit hole worth going down.

Now let us acknowledge their feature lists. MF DOOM, Lou Reed, JPEGMAFIA, even Asha Bhosle. They have never been scared to experiment with who they invite on their tracks, and once it clicks, it clicks. That is the genius of Damon Albarn.

Every album by the band is essentially a concept album, and their latest offering, "The Mountain," finds the animated band taking shelter in India, with the actual band recording it in our country and a tour scheduled for January 2027.

PSA: you have eight months to tap in. Start with "Plastic Beach" and get lost. You will understand everything and nothing at the same time. And that is Gorillaz for you.