2017 looks set to be the year of the Gorilla. We already know that Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn‘s toon rock act have a new album coming out this year, and now it seems that — much like sunshine — they’ve got it in the bag.

A promising update has come from a fan who ran into Albarn in London this week and then posted about the encounter on social media.

Sharing a pic of the Gorillaz mastermind posing with him while wearing “a new hat [he got] for the Gorillaz tour”, Jack Winstanley reports that Albarn told him the band have “just finished the album and they’re rehearsing right now” (!!!)

https://twitter.com/_JackWinstanley/status/834509019293310981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/_JackWinstanley/status/834553303417679872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/_JackWinstanley/status/834564177079496704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

This information has since been semi-corroborated by Gorillaz drummer IRL, Seye, who posted an Instagram photo of himself collapsed on the ground inside a rehearsal space together with the caption: “Working hard”.

It comes after Albarn previously confirmed that the animated act would be “touring and doing festivals” to celebrate the release of their forthcoming LP *cough* Splendour In The Grass 2017, plz *cough* which ICYMI is packing collabs with Vic Mensa as well as Snoop Dogg and De La Soul and may even feature rejected Adele songs.

And after hitting is with a bunch of comics and playlists, Gorillaz finally dropped their first dose of new music in five years recently, the politically-charged ‘Hallelujah Money’.

Whet your whistle for the long-awaited follow-up to their 2010 record Plastic Beach by giving it a spin below.

Watch: Gorillaz — ‘Hallelujah Money’ Feat. Benjamin Clementine