2D (almost) gets sacrificed in Gorillaz's new 'Silent Running' music video
Britain's favorite virtual band is back and even more morbid than ever.
The new music video for their song 'Silent Running' chronicles the band as they rush to save 2D from an occult sacrifice. Masked figures lower the blue-haired singer down into a shadowy abyss, attempting to feed him to a monster that looks oddly like a much bigger version of gollum from Lord of the Rings. In a rare moment of heroism, green-skinned bassist Murdoc saves the day, explaining the whole ordeal by saying, "Well, chuffing hell! What an emotional roller-coaster ride that was! I can see the headlines now: 'Murdoc's Bathwater Saves Humanity!' Always the plan tbh, just kept it under my hat until the big finish."
Guitarist Noodle sees 2D's near death experience a little differently, saying, "The shadow of time is always following us. Nothing is forever. Those who fight it are doomed to lose."
Damon Albarn, the real life musical mastermind behind Gorillaz, hopped on a Genius video to explain the lyrics of the track last week, explaining that the song was an "old demo of [his] that's just been sort of hanging about for a while."
In a deleted clip from the Genius video later posted to Instagram, Damon admitted, "You asked for me to explain my lyrics. I very rarely explain them. In fact, this might be the first time I've ever actually done it verbatim. It's all a load of nonsense though! Just remember that. It's a load of rubbish!"
The music video comes after Gorillaz's experimental AR concerts in Piccadilly Circus and Times Square on December 17 and December 18 respectively. The concert had no actual presence in real life, instead being accessed on the user's phone and projected onto the video from their camera in realtime. The show was a massive hit with fans and critics alike, with mobs of fans even being seen jumping to the music as if they were in the pit of a real live concert.
The AR experiment was so successful that Gorillaz toyed around with the technology even more, launching a Snapchat filter that lets the user try on merch for their upcoming 'Cracker Island' album alongside the 'Silent Running' music video.
The full 'Cracker Island' album will be released later this month on February 24, and if the quality of their recent videos and singles is any indication, it's sure to be one of their best.
Read next: Gorillaz team up with slowthai and Slaves for Britpop-inspired track 'Momentary Bliss'
