“Cracker Island” by Gorillaz featuring Thundercat

"Cracker Island" was the first single from Gorillaz's eighth album of the same name, out in June 2022, and it drafts Thundercat in to do what he does best: his bass runs all over the track, slippery and elastic, while he trades vocals with the band. Greg Kurstin co-produced with Gorillaz and Remi Kabaka Jr. and piled on synths, keys and drums, and the result is a glossy, neon-lit strut with something rotten underneath. Damon Albarn has said it's about people with wild ideas living happily inside their own echo chambers.

Fans had already heard it on the band's 2022 world tour before it came out. Jamie Hewlett and Fx Goby's animated video drops 2-D, Russel and Noodle into Los Angeles County Hospital on a rainy night, where a wasted 2-D, grilled by the cops, keeps seeing Thundercat. It also gave the band their best showing on the US alternative airplay chart since "Feel Good Inc."

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.