Song Machine (Season One)

The first season of the Gorillaz musical project, Song Machine, began on 30 January 2020, and will conclude in October 2020. Song Machine (Season One) will contain 10 "episodes" that will be released spontaneously throughout the year until October, after which the album will be compiled and marketed as a compilation titled Almanac, based on Gorillaz's eponymous book.[1] The season marked the return of the character Murdoc Niccals in promotional material, after his absence from The Now Now in 2018.

Song Machine (Season One)
Cover of the Almanac, which the album is sold with
Compilation album by
Gorillaz
ReleasedOctober 2020
Recorded2018-2020
StudioStudio 13
GenreVarious
Label
Producer
Gorillaz chronology
The Now Now
(2018)		 Song Machine (Season One)
(2020)
Singles from "Song Machine" (Season One)
  1. "Song Machine EP. 1"
    Released: 30 January 2020
  2. "Song Machine EP. 2"
    Released: 27 February 2020
  3. "Song Machine EP. 3"
    Released: 9 April 2020
  4. "How Far?"
    Released: 2 May 2020
  5. "Song Machine EP. 4"
    Released: 9 June 2020
  6. "Song Machine EP. 5"
    Released: 20 July 2020

The series presents itself as a collection of singles and music videos, dubbed "episodes" each featuring previously unannounced guests[2] This season features appearances from Slowthai, Slaves, Fatoumata Diawara, Peter Hook, Georgia, Tony Allen, Skepta, Octavian and ScHoolboy Q, and has incorporated a wide range of genres, thus far including punk rock,[3] bossa nova,[4] synth-pop,[5] electronic,[6] and downtempo.[7] After the premiere of Episode 5, it was stated that the project would commence a brief hiatus, lasting until an unspecified date in September.[8][9]

Personnel

Gorillaz

A&R producer[lower-alpha 1]

  • Remi Kabaka Jr – drum programming, percussion, songwriting, live drums

Additional musicians

  • Slowthai – vocals (Track 2)
  • Laurence Vincent – guitar, vocals, songwriting (Track 2)
  • Isaac Holman – percussion, vocals, songwriting (Track 2)
  • Mike Dean – drum programming, songwriting (Track 2)
  • Alice Pratley – violin (Track 3)
  • Augustin Ledieu – backing vocals (Track 3)
  • Ciara Ismail – violin (Track 3, Track 5)
  • Davide Rossi – strings, string arranger (Track 3)
  • Emmanuel Laniece – backing vocals (Track 3)
  • Fatoumata Diawara – vocals, songwriting (Track 3)
  • Isabelle Dunn – cello (Track 3), violin (Track 5)
  • James Ford – keyboards, percussion, balafon percussion (Track 3); synthesizers, live drums (Track 4)
  • Neima Naouri – backing vocals (Track 3)
  • Nicola Hicks – viola (Track 3)
  • Nora Fedrigo – electronics (Track 3)
  • Sylvain Bellegarde – background vocals (Track 3)
  • Sébastien Blanchon – horn (Track 3)
  • Vanina de Franco – backing vocals (Track 3)
  • Zither – live drums (Track 3)
  • Georgia – drum programming, percussion, songwriting (Track 4)
  • Peter Hook – bass, vocals, songwriting (Track 4)
  • P2J – drum programming (Track 4)
  • Tony Allen– vocals, drums, songwriting (Track 5)
  • Skepta – vocals (Track 5)
  • Konoto Sato – violin (Track 5)
  • Stella Page – violin (Track 5)
  • Octavian - vocals, songwriting (Track 6)
  • Schoolboy Q - vocals, songwriting (Track 7)
  • Prince Paul - production, backing vocals (Track 7)
  • John Smythe - guitar (Track 7)
  • Weathrman - bass, keyboards, synthesizer (Track 7)

Technical

  • Stephen Sedgwick – mixing, engineering
  • Samuel Egglenton – mixing, engineering
  • John Davis – mastering, engineering
  • Adrien Libmann – engineering (Track 3)
  • Andrea Fognini – engineering (Track 3)
  • Davide Lasala – engineering (Track 3)
  • Sylvain Mercier – engineering (Track 3)
  • Elvin "Wit" Shahbazian – engineering (Track 7)

Notes
  1. Remi Kabaka Jr. became a music producer for the band in 2015 after several years providing the voice of Russel Hobbs and was listed as A&R producer alongside Albarn and Hewlett in the 2019 documentary Gorillaz: Reject False Icons.[10] He is also the creator of Gorillaz Sound System, project started in 2011.

References
  1. "Almanac CD". Gorillaz Official Website.
  2. Blistein, Jon (29 January 2020). "Gorillaz Detail New Music, Video Series 'Song Machine'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  3. "Gorillaz Link With slowthai, Slaves On 'Momentary Bliss'". Clash Magazine. 31 January 2020.
  4. "Gorillaz Get Mellow With Fatoumata Diawara on 'Désolé': Watch". Billboard. 27 February 2020.
  5. "Gorillaz, Peter Hook, & Georgia Share "Aries": Listen". Stereogum.
  6. "Gorillaz Tap slowthai & Slaves for New Single "Momentary Bliss"". Hypebeast. 30 January 2020.
  7. liveforlivemusic.com/news https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/gorillaz-pac-man-schoolboy-q/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. Song Machine Episode 5 - www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-7U-FDql1A
  9. "Gorillaz share new song with ScHoolboy Q 'PAC-MAN'". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  10. Hewlett, Denholm (24 December 2019). Gorillaz: Reject False Icons (Director's Cut) (Motion picture). YouTube: Gorillaz. Event occurs at 23:32. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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