Damon Albarn promised a new Gorillaz album would be out this year, and by the looks of collaborator Jamie Hewlett’s Instagram account, work is well underway.

Hewlett has shared a pair of videos from inside in the studio. The first one features Albarn working alongside legendary French composer Jean Michel-Jarre, producer Twilite Tone, and singer-songwriter Liam Bailey; unfortunately, the video is without sound. The second clip sees Twilite and Bailey goofing around.



One of France’s most celebrated musicians, Jarre is known for pioneering electronic, ambient, and new-age genres. After an extensive period away from music, Jarre recently returned with a pair of Electronica collaborative albums featuring everyone from Tangerine Dream, to Massive Attack, to Hans Zimmer.

Twilite is a Grammy-nominated producer who’s worked extensively with Kanye West, while Bailey penned Chase and Status’ hit single “Blind Faith” and has also worked with DJ Fresh and Shy FX.

In a since-deleted Instagram posting, Bailey noted that Massive Attack had visited Gorillaz in the studio, but it’s unclear whether they recorded anything together.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based stop-motion animation/sound production studio Open The Portal has teased a Gorillaz collaboration. The below Instagram video, released earlier this month in celebration of Albarn’s birthday, features “a sneak preview of a stop motion, paper cutout 2D puppet of Gorillaz singer 2-D we’re working on for a secret project.”

Not counting the iPad-record LP The Fall, Gorillaz’s last studio album came in the form of 2010’s Plastic Beach. Along with the in-studio footage, Hewlett continues to post new artwork of the band’s cartoon characters.