''Song Machine'' is an audiovisual project by British virtual band

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...

. It is a

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

consisting of a collection of music videos and singles that are released monthly by the band as episodes of the series, with each episode featuring additional guests. Each episode is released with accompanying interludes called "Machine Bitez", a series of skits consisting of short conversations and interviews with ''Song Machine''s guests from Gorillaz' virtual band members. The project was officially launched on 30 January 2020. Season one of ''Song Machine'' consists of 9 episodes and was released as an album titled '' Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'' on 23 October 2020. A second season was announced in 2020, though it was later scrapped in favor of '' Cracker Island''.

Background

Premise

''Song Machine'' centers around the adventures of British virtual band

and the various events they experience through their haunted headquarters at a newly revamped and relocated Kong Studios, which contains various portals through which the band visit the guests and transport them to Kong, while recording music for their newest project, ''Song Machine''. Episodes of ''Song Machine'' are accompanied by short segments called "Machine Bitez", a series of character skits featuring snippets of conversations and interviews with ''Song Machine''s guests from Gorillaz' virtual band members. Some episodes take on an interview format between 2-D and a ''Song Machine'' collaborator, while others involve the Gorillaz band members discussing the production and process of creating the music or the events that took place in an episode.

Characters

* 2-D (voiced by

Kevin Bishop Kevin Brian Bishop (born 1980) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his roles as Jim Hawkins (character), Jim Hawkins in ''Muppet Treasure Island'', Stupid Brian in ''My Family'', and Nigel Norman Fletcher in the 2016 rev ...

) – The lead vocalist and keyboardist of Gorillaz. Gorillaz' actual co-founder

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

provides 2-D's singing voice. * Murdoc Niccals (voiced by Phil Cornwell) – The bassist and leader of Gorillaz. *

Noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures and made into a variety of shapes. The most common noo ...

(voiced by Haruka Abe) – The lead guitarist and occasional backup vocalist of Gorillaz. * Russel Hobbs (voiced by Remi Kabaka Jr.) – The drummer and percussionist of Gorillaz.

Setting

''Song Machine'' is mainly set in Gorillaz' haunted headquarters at Kong Studios, relocated to West London from its original location in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. In ''Song Machine'', Kong Studios contains various portals that can teleport Gorillaz to various locations across the world. The characters will sometimes refer to these portals as a Phantom Tollbooth, in reference to the 1970 film and 1961 book of the same name. More often than not, these portals are used to gather guests for ''Song Machine'', but have been used for other purposes as well. In " Aries", the band are transported through the portal to the North African country of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

for a race. This version of Kong Studios, like the previous incarnation, is subject to paranormal activity, the most prominent example being The Pink Phantom from the episode of the same name. This version of Kong Studios is based on Gorillaz' recording studio at Studio 13, which was created in 1998 by Damon Albarn for he and Gorillaz co-creator

Jamie Hewlett Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is a British comic book artist and illustrator. He is the co-creator of the comic book ''Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin (writer), Alan Martin and the virtual band Gorillaz, alongside Blur (band), Blur ...

to produce their material. Studio 13 was originally going to be a part of the main setting of Gorillaz during ''

Humanz ''Humanz'' is the fifth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 28 April 2017 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States. It was the band's first studio album released in seven years, fo ...

'', where Gorillaz were going to record material in a fictional replica of Studio 13 that was set next to it called Studio 14.

Production

''Song Machine'' began production in summer of 2019, with " Momentary Bliss" being the first episode produced. All episodes of ''Song Machine'' are produced by Gorillaz Productions, a production company formed by

and

that has been used since the 2019 Gorillaz documentary ''Reject False Icons'' to produce and release new material. As with other media, ''Song Machines production was mildly affected by the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic, with work on the series continuing to be done remotely through e-mails and Zoom sessions, starting with "

Strange Timez "Strange Timez" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz featuring The Cure frontman, Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith. The track was released on 9 September 2020 as the seventh single for Gorillaz' seventh studio album, ''Song Machine, Se ...

Music

According to Albarn, the original idea for ''Song Machines music was for there to be two collaborators recording with Gorillaz for a track on separate floors at Studio 13, without hearing either of each other's contributions. ''Song Machine'' eventually became an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, but this was not Albarn and Hewlett's original intention and they initially created ''Song Machine'' to be purely episodic, with Albarn stating that listening to the album was "like listening to an entirely different entity". Albarn has stated that ''Song Machine'' was created because he became tired of the typical six-month time period that making an album takes. While older guests for ''Song Machine'' are mainly chosen by Albarn and Hewlett, younger guests are chosen by Gorillaz drummer Remi Kabaka Jr., an official non-virtual member of the band since ''

''. Albarn says of the album version of season one, "It's one of the best albums I've ever made. It’s really strong because every tune has that single intention to it. To make an album of singles is such a rigorous pursuit you don't normally do it – but accidentally, we have." Albarn has also mentioned that there will eventually be a season two, and that it could possibly begin as early as February 2021, with seasons potentially being released back to back. Music from season one of ''Song Machine'' features additional co-production from Mike Will Made It, Prince Paul, James Ford, P2J, Mike Dean, Robert Smith, Joan As Police Woman, and Marzeratti. As per Gorillaz' usual approach, ''Song Machine'' explores a multitude of different musical genres, thus far including

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, R&B, bossa nova,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

, electronic,

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

, and

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

Animation

''Song Machine'' is directed by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett and produced by UK-based animation studio The Line, being co-directed by animators Tim McCourt and Max Taylor, who previously worked on the music video for "

Humility Humility is the quality of being humble. The Oxford Dictionary, in its 1998 edition, describes humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. However, humility involves having an accurate opinion of oneself and expressing oneself mode ...

". The videography and camera work on the episodes "Momentary Bliss" and " Désolé" are provided by Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn's daughter Missy Albarn along with Hewlett. The episodes are edited by Hewlett himself. ''Song Machine'' was originally inspired by 60s children's series like ''

The Banana Splits ''The Banana Splits'' is an American children's television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red helmets with ...

'', and by the binge-watching format of online streaming services. Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett has mentioned that the art style for ''Song Machine'' was inspired by the artwork for the first Gorillaz album, which was inspired by classic

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

cartoons and ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' animator

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

. As per Gorillaz' usual visual approach, ''Song Machine'' blends various styles of animation with live-action. While Gorillaz themselves appear in ''Song Machine'' in their usual two-dimensional animated form, guests are generally filmed in live-action and episodes are typically set in a live-action or CGI environment.

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

has been the only guest on ''Song Machine'' to appear in animated form. ''Song Machine'' was originally going to be set around Kong Studios (Studio 13) with the animation of the characters added into filmed footage of ''Song Machines recording sessions, but this was later made impossible after work had to be done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Hewlett ran out of Studio 13 footage. This caused Hewlett to change the setting of the storyline for ''Song Machine'', starting with "Strange Timez" being set in space. " The Valley of the Pagans" was created using the director mode of ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

''.

Release

On 28 January 2020, the band officially released images via social media teasing a concept entitled ''Song Machine''. A 23-second promotional single entitled "Song Machine Theme Tune" was released on streaming services with an accompanying video. On 29 January 2020, the first "Machine Bitez" was posted on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and music streaming services. ''Song Machines first episode, " Momentary Bliss" officially premiered on YouTube on 30 January 2020, and the single was subsequently released on music streaming platforms. After the premiere, additional "Machine Bitez" featuring interviews with "Momentary Bliss" collaborators Slowthai and

Slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

' virtual frontman 2-D were also uploaded to YouTube and music streaming services. A limited edition art print and additional merchandise was then put up for sale on Gorillaz' online shop following the episode's premiere. Each episode of ''Song Machine'' is proceeded by a 10-second snippet teasing the next episode. Episode three, " Aries", ends with a snippet followed by a brief message from Gorillaz virtual band member 2-D informing viewers to stay safe amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and Remi Kabaka Jr. spoke to

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's Annie Mac for the official premiere of the series, with Albarn saying that ''Song Machine'' "may have an obtuse narrative arc at the end of each season, but it's more '' Ozark'', than '' Designated Survivor''. You just keep going until you run out of ideas." He also revealed that the group had been in the studio with

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

and Sampa the Great among others, although he did say that these songs were likely to be saved for future series of ''Song Machine''. The group also teased a possible collaboration with Australian band

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian singer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker (musician), Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring a ...

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. A press release was put out to explain ''Song Machine'' further, with virtual Gorillaz member Russel Hobbs saying: "''Song Machine'' is a whole new way of doing what we do, Gorillaz breaking the mould 'cos the mould got old. World is moving faster than a supercharged particle, so we've gotta stay ready to drop. We don't even know who's stepping through the studio next. ''Song Machine'' feeds on the unknown, runs on pure chaos. So whatever the hell's coming, we're primed and ready to produce like there's no tomorrow." On 9 September 2020, during the premiere of "

", it was announced that ''Song Machine'' was going to be released as a full studio album called '' Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'' with eleven tracks (seventeen on the deluxe edition), featuring guest appearances from artists such as

, Robert Smith,

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born 13 February 1956) is an English musician. He was the bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division and its successor New Order. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

, St. Vincent,

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

, 6lack, JPEGMafia, Chai, and various others. In an interview with Albarn on 15 October 2020, he revealed that he planned for season two to begin in the future, hinting at a possible February 2021 window, and expressing excitement for the potential of more seasons being recorded and released "back to back". However February did not see season two being released, with soon the project was scrapped, and instead released as a stand-alone studio album '' Cracker Island'' in 2023.

Promotion

On 12 September 2019, Gorillaz began posting a series of postcards attributed to the characters to their social media pages, with each postcard from a different part of the world, mentioning a machine and asking if the others were ready to start it. They would later begin to post a series of playlists attributed to each character on Spotify entitled “Wish You Were Ear”, and later another series of character-attributed Spotify playlists themed around a fictional festival called the Maydeup Festival, with an imaginary poster featuring a fake lineup for the festival made for the playlists. On 26 November 2019, Gorillaz put a set of holiday merchandise featuring the characters in a new look up for sale on their official online store. Afterwards, "Song Machine Theme Tune" was posted on the band's social media pages on 28 January 2020 and the series made its premiere two days later. "Momentary Bliss" was accompanied by the first in a series of threads on Gorillaz band member

Murdoc Murdoc is a fictional character that appears in the ABC television series ''MacGyver'' and in the CBS reboot series of the same name. In both portrayals, Murdoc is an assassin and frequent antagonist of both series. Original series Murdoc ...

's official

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account called "Debunked With Murdoc Niccals", where Murdoc interacted with fans on Twitter to questions about episodes of the series. This lasted until the episode "Aries". On 7 April 2020, Gorillaz announced "Get Lost with Gorillaz", a series of fictional telegrams following the characters and the activity they've partaken in while social distancing during quarantine. A series of behind-the-scenes footage called "NoodleCam" which featured seconds long behind-the-scenes clips of the ''Song Machine'' sessions interspersed with a still image of

were published on the band's Instagram stories and accompanied the release of each episode up until "

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

". When ''Song Machine'' episodes are premiered live on YouTube, there are usually appearances from the characters in the live chat and comments section of the episodes. An online driving game based on "Aries" was published to Gorillaz' official website on 4 September 2020. ''Song Machine'' went on a two month long hiatus after the release of "Pac-Man". Leading up to the premiere of "Strange Timez", the band began posting a series of recaps of previous episodes on social media and uploading lyric videos of the previous episodes on YouTube soon afterwards. On 15 October 2020, the band began posting snippets of ''Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez cassette editions online, starting with Noodle's.

Episodes

Season 1 (2020)

Reception

''Song Machine'' has been noted by critics for its unique approach to releasing music. Brian Hillsman of ''The Cosmic Clash'' gave ''Song Machine'' a positive review and called it the band's best work, saying of the project "As ''Song Machine'' gradually releases to the public, it will certainly morph into an addiction, a cultural phenomenon that will have listeners hooked and eagerly awaiting each successive episode.". ''Affinity Magazine'' called ''Song Machine'' one of

' most ambitious projects to date, saying that it's "a testament to their unique take on the music industry". Meanwhile, DIY Mag calls ''Song Machine'' "the greatest new music TV series going".

Related media

Book

''Gorillaz Almanac'' is a graphic novel based on Gorillaz published in partnership with comic book publisher Z2 Comics. Announced on 26 May 2020 via social media, ''Gorillaz Almanac'' was released in December 2020. Inspired by the famous British hardcover annual of the same name, ''Gorillaz Almanac'' contains over 200 pages, featuring extra content such as comic strips, new and old artwork, puzzles, games, and special guest appearances from various Gorillaz collaborators from throughout the years. ''Gorillaz Almanac'' comes in three editions: standard edition, deluxe edition, and super deluxe edition. The deluxe edition of the Gorillaz Almanac was limited to 6,666 copies and includes four additional art prints and a sticker sheet signed by the characters, while the super deluxe edition was limited to 200 copies and comes in a unique package signed by

. Each edition of ''Gorillaz Almanac'' comes with a physical copy of '' Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez standard edition on CD.

Album

''Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'' is a studio album by Gorillaz that contain the eleven episodes of the ''Song Machine'' web series as tracks on the album, plus several bonus tracks. The bonus tracks for the album are tracks that will not be released as episodes of the web series. A physical copy of the ''Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'' standard edition will also be included with all copies of the upcoming Gorillaz graphic novel ''Gorillaz Almanac''. ''Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'' comes in various editions, and will be released on CD, vinyl, and cassette. The deluxe vinyl edition of ''Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'' comes with three 12" art prints, a 20-page hardback art book with original art by Jamie Hewlett, and a ''Song Machine'' CD. The exclusive super deluxe vinyl box set includes eleven 7" singles with instrumentals and eleven 12" art prints, as well as a music box that plays "Song Machine Theme Tune". Four exclusive cassette editions featuring alternate track list orders were made only available on the official Gorillaz store, with each cassette attributed to a different Gorillaz character.

Radio show

On 16 October 2020, the band announced a broadcast radio show on

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

named ''Song Machine Radio with Gorillaz'', which premiered on 19 October 2020. ''Song Machine Radio with Gorillaz'' is a monthly hour-long four-part Apple Music program hosted by the characters, with each episode featuring personalized music selections, special guests appearances and various discussions. The series also contains segments featuring Gorillaz co-creators

and Jamie Hewlett, and provides hands-on information regarding the making of '' Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez''.

Tour

''Song Machine'' was first played live through a set of three international virtual live gigs called ''Song Machine Live''. Officially announced on 17 September 2020, ''Song Machine Live'' first broadcast on 12 December 2020, with the performance live streamed across three different time zones. ''Song Machine Lives first performance was broadcast to Asia, Australia, and New Zealand on 8 pm JST, with its second being for North & South America and starting at 4 pm PST, with its final being set for broadcast to Europe, United Kingdom, and Africa at 7 pm GMT, all of which are broadcast live from London, UK. The concert was performed by the Gorillaz live band in Kong Studios and featured

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

appearances from the characters as they were shown in previous Song Machine episodes. They have also announced dates in 2021 for festivals such as

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiva ...

and Splendour in the Grass. On 18 October 2020, an interview with Albarn revealed that ''Song Machine Live'' will eventually show Gorillaz' virtual members performing on stage with the live band members, with the performances switching focus back and forth between the two throughout them. On October 23, 2020, Gorillaz announced the Song Machine Tour in support of season one, set to begin in June 2021.

Merchandise

''Song Machine'' has had various merchandise produced for it since " Momentary Bliss" premiered on 30 January 2020. The merchandise for ''Song Machine'' is usually a limited edition art print, t-shirt, or sticker sheet that is released on the official online Gorillaz store with the premiere each episode. On 26 November 2019, a month before ''Song Machine'' was officially launched, a set of limited edition holiday merchandise featuring artwork of the characters as they appear on the ''Song Machine'' title card was released.

References

External links

{{Portal bar, , Animation, Cartoon, Music 2020 singles Album series Gorillaz albums Parlophone albums Albums recorded at Studio 13 Warner Records albums Albums produced by Damon Albarn Song Machine 2020 web series debuts Adult animated web series British animated web series Gorillaz