Gorillaz Become Monkey for "Circus Opera" Soundtrack
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett already have another project in the works as well
Looking for an opera album to wedge between your mom's Josh Groban collection and your dad's Andrea Bocelli discography on the family CD shelf? Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have got you covered. The Gorillaz masterminds will release the soundtrack to "Monkey: Journey to the West"-- Albarn's "circus opera" collaboration with visual artist Jamie Hewlett-- via XL this summer in the UK and this fall in North America.
The album will be released under the title Journey to the West, with the artist's name listed as Monkey. According to a press release, the opera tells the story of "the Monkey King's journey to enlightenment as it takes him undersea, to decadent banquets in heaven, through encounters with Spider Maidens and Skeleton Demons, and eventually to paradise." Albarn produced the album, and its lyrics are entirely in Mandarin.
XL's release of the album will be digital and on CD. Vinyl Factory Ltd. is handling the release of a vinyl box set via the "Monkey: Journey to the West" website. It features etched heavyweight vinyl, a poster by Hewlett, a 60-page booklet, and comes housed in a handmade box.
The live version of "Monkey: Journey to the West" will make its London debut at the Royal Opera House tonight, July 23. It runs through Saturday, July 26.
Albarn and Hewlett are already hard at work on their next collaboration, a project for film and stage called "Carousel", according to an Observer interview with Hewlett [via NME.com].
Hewlett spilled the following to The Observer about "Carousel":
"I can't say much about it yet, but it's sort of like a film, but not with one narrative story. There's many stories, told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles... Originally it was a film, but now we think it's a film and it's a stage thing as well... It's basically us doing what the fuck we want without worrying about whether it's for a record company or a film company or whatever. So I'm not sure how it'll pan out, or even if it will happen. But Damon's written around 70 songs for it, and I've got great plans for the visuals, but right now, at this moment, it's still just a really good idea."
And if you're watching the BBC's coverage of the Olympics this August, you're going to be seeing a lot of Gorillaz.
Journey to the West:
01 Monkey's World
02 Monkey Travels
03 Into the Eastern Sea
04 The Living Sea
05 The Dragon King
06 Iron Rod
07 Out of the Eastern Sea
08 Heavenly Peach Banquet
09 Battle in Heaven
10 O Mi To Fu
11 Whisper
12 Tripitaka's Curse
13 Confessions of a Pig
14 Sandy the River Demon
15 March of the Volunteers
16 The White Skeleton Demon
17 Monk's Song
18 I Love Buddha
19 March of the Iron Army
20 Pigsy in Space
21 Monkey Bee
22 Disappearing Volcano
