Gorillaz collab with Elton John for ‘The Pink Phantom’ ahead of new album

Riding in on waves of synth, the song builds in intensity as John’s voice seems to reverberate through the expanse of the track. Earlier today, John talked about his love for Gorillaz’s music and revealed how the track came to be in a statement.

“Damon reached out and asked me to do something and the way the song has turned out is just great. I was in the studio in London and he was at the other end in Devon, but even remotely it was such an engaging and creative process.” He said.

“I’ve always loved Damon because he encompasses so many different sorts of music. He has his fingers in so many pies and although he’s achieved so much, he never sits still creatively. He’s constantly pushing forward and embracing the new, which is admirable and rare,” John continued.

“He’s always working—he’s always doing something. He’s done so much to promote music from around the world, from Africa, from China, that people hadn’t previously heard and I really admire that. I’ve always been a Gorillaz fan anyway, so when he asked me to do a Gorillaz track—it was a no brainer. I’m so very, very happy that that’s come about.” He stated.

Since January of this year, Gorillaz have been releasing a string of surprising collaborations with a wide array of artists as part of their Song Machine series. Earlier in September, they teamed up with The Cure’s Robert Smith for what is now the album’s eponymous track, ‘Strange Timez’.

Other collaborations on the series have included slowthai and Slaves on ‘momentary bliss, Fatoumata Diawara on ‘Désolé’, Peter Hook and Georgia on ‘Aries’, Skepta and Tony Allen on ‘How Far’, Octavian on ‘Friday 13th’ and ScHoolboy Q on ‘PAC-Man’.

Check out ‘The Pink Phantom ft. Elton John & 6LACK (Episode Seven)’ by Gorillaz:

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