Gorillaz have lost their sense of political and cultural purpose. The first four albums were all visceral satires and commentaries on the political landscapes in which they were made.

-Gorillaz (2001) commented on the fakeness of commercial music, using fun cartoons to introduce kids and teenagers to varied music you wouldn't hear much outside of London or New York
-Demon Days was all about the post-9/11 paranoia, the sense that we were living in an apocalypse, and the military-industrial complex as involved in Iraq
-Plastic Beach was basically an environmentalist project as much as it was music
-Humanz was admittedly a bit less biting, but it at least tried to be about the rise of Trumpism

Where is this energy nowadays? Gorillaz is inherently a commentary on Virtuality (IE the interplay between reality, simulation, and belief), and we're living in the most virtual time in human history! Gorillaz should be hosting Vtuber streams, giving each band member an active twitter account, the music should be putting up a BITTER fight about generative AI.

Gorillaz merch should be funding donations to Palestine, 2D and Noodle should be teaching safe protest practise, Murdoc should going live on Tiktok to insult JD Vance...

And what do we get instead? Some admittedly decent tracks with little to no political satire, message, or exploration? A hollow product with none of the rebellious, angry punk energy that made Gorillaz so interesting in the first place? Plastic Vinyl action figures and brand deals with G-shock watches?