Gorillaz

Damon Albarn's animated-band project with artist Jamie Hewlett; Little Dragon are a Gothenburg quartet fronted by Yukimi Nagano, formed in 1996. "Empire Ants" is a two-halves track — a hushed Albarn lullaby that blooms into Nagano's floating synth-funk — and Pitchfork called her contribution "airy, elusive, and amazingly beautiful." Albarn only found the band through his partner, and Nagano barely knew who Gorillaz were when she arrived at his London studio, later admitting "I definitely wasn't as charged as I perhaps might have been if I knew who they were." Gorillaz released The Mountain in February 2026.

From the notes for Episode 02 · fact-checked Sep 23, 2026.