Cracker Island: Catching Up on the Music and Lives of the Gorillaz
By Tanner Purdy
The latest Gorillaz album came out on February 24th after months of high anticipation from fans. Cracker Island is their eighth studio album, its production began in 2021 after the Gorillaz Netflix movie was scrapped. They collaborated with an impressive list of artists for this album including Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Tame Impala, and more.
Cracker Island’s tracks have a wide variety of moods held together by beat-driven alternative instrumentals that give the album a feeling of cohesion. Some, like “Tarantula” and “Possession Island,” have a melancholic emotion-driven feel. Other tracks like “Cracker Island” and “Captain Chicken” bring a more chaotic energy that is near impossible to resist grooving to.
Overall, the album’s songs settle into a lulling midrange sound that beautifully backs Damon Albarn’s floaty, delicate melodies. While many people are celebrating the easygoing feel, others have criticized it for being routine and forgettable. Others back that the lulling sound of the album was very intentional. Murdoc himself describes the melodies as “hypnotic.” Even though some fans were left underwhelmed by Cracker Island, it has been well received with the Rolling Stones calling it the Gorillaz “most purely pleasurable LP yet.”
As with any Gorillaz album, the songs and sound are only part of the production. Cracker Island’s release brought with it a much anticipated look into the lives of the band members. The album has been credited as their most story-driven release since Plastic Beach in 2010. The lead-up to the album teased a move to LA and the creation of a cult. The two videos for the album gave us lots of action, but little context, allowing many directions for fan theories.
Between their social media, podcast, and music videos, fans have been given a lot of new storyline material to work with. We’ll start by unraveling the basics – the foursome relocated to LA to work on their new album. They moved into a mansion near Sliver Lake outside of LA. Soon after moving Murdoc comes to the group with big news, he has received a prophecy. The prophecy states he they must create a new cult with him as their leader. While Russell and Noodle are skeptical at first, Murdoc convinces them the cult will ultimately do good.
Each member was given a role in what they deemed ‘The Last Cult.’ Noodle became the cult’s scholar, responsible for studying old texts to create the cult’s doctrine. Russell was named seeker of truth, and sinks into making sense of Murdoch’s prophecy. Murdoc of course named himself the great leader. 2D was named the chosen one, although his responsibilities consisted mostly of manual labor and taking Murdoc’s mild abuses.
The Gorillaz peculiar neighbors turned out to be another cult led by Moon Flower. Murdoc fell in love at first sight and started watching her with binoculars. Noodle and 2D became increasingly concerned for Russell, who has started watching The Static Channel for days on end. The group’s tensions rose as 2D got cozy with the cult next door, upsetting Murdoc.
After Russell stays awake for 12 days straight, 2D disappears, taken by the neighbor cult. With the help of the prophecy that Russell finally unscrambles, Noodle convinces Murdoc that 2D is indeed in danger. This is where the music videos start following the band. The video for “Silent Running” depicts the band’s rescue of 2D. They break into the cult’s sacrificial ritual and see 2D strung to a wheel being lowered down to a massive goblin-like monster in a cave beneath them. In the moment of truth, Moon Flower has a change of heart, stopping 2D’s sacrifice. The Gorillaz defeat the other cult members and accidentally kill the monster with a bottle of condensed essence of Murdoc.
With the team in rough shape, they are taken to the hospital, catching us up to the beginning of the “Cracker Island” music video. Here we see them doing damage control in the hospital. Russell sinks back into The Static Channel before becoming subtly possessed and moving away from the TV. Murdoc makes a dramatic late entrance in time to greet Moon Flower, who has risen from the dead and then rapidly aged. From there we are left with many open-ended questions.
Although it is not specified who brought Moon Flower back from the dead, many fans are theorizing it was Murdoc. In his pursuit of Cult leader power, it was established he taught himself to levitate, so fans are wondering what other powers he’s gained access to. My personal fan theory is that there is a secondary power we don’t yet know about. The flashing face in The Static Channel and the possession of Russell imply an outside influence at least.
We are also left with many questions about how the Gorillaz cult and Moon Flower’s cult are connected. The Static Channel, which was floated as a possible album name, is also left open-ended and unexplained. Clearly, Russell has linked with something towards the end, but we don’t get to see what.
This album has left the fans with more questions than answers, and that’s the beauty of it. The characters and lives of the Gorillaz are one of the things that make their band so unique. The mystery and investigative aspect to the members’ lives keeps fans intrigued and always coming back for more. If you want to join in the mystery and make your own theories, visit the Gorillaz social media for more links and information.