"The Pink Phantom" is a song by British virtual band

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...

, featuring British singer

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

and American singer

6lack Ricardo Valdez Valentine Jr. (born June 24, 1992), known professionally as 6lack (stylized as 6LACK, pronounced "black"), is an American R&B singer and songwriter. Born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he gained recognitio ...

. The track was released on 1 October 2020 as the eighth single for Gorillaz' seventh studio album, '' Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez'', and the seventh episode of the ''

Song Machine ''Song Machine'' is an audiovisual project by British virtual band Gorillaz. It is a music video web series consisting of a collection of music videos and singles (music), singles that are released monthly by the band as episodes of the series, ...

'' project, a web series involving the ongoing release of various Gorillaz tracks featuring different guest musicians over the course of 2020. The song was later included on John's 2021 album '' The Lockdown Sessions''.

Background

The song was recorded in 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with

recording from London, and Gorillaz singer

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

recording from Devon. The song was originally planned to be made solely with Elton John in Atlanta, where Albarn was meeting with

and

EarthGang EarthGang (stylized EARTHGANG) is an American hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Olu (aka Johnny Venus; born Olu Onyemachi Dakarai Fann) and WowGr8 (aka Doctur Dot; born Eian Parker). They are co-founders of the musical collective S ...

. After the pandemic prevented these sessions, however, 6lack was added to the track.

Music video

The video, directed by

Jamie Hewlett Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is a British comic book artist and illustrator. He is the co-creator of the comic book ''Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin (writer), Alan Martin and the virtual band Gorillaz, alongside Blur (band), Blur ...

, Tim McCourt, and Max Taylor, features 2-D, Elton John, and 6lack performing a lavishly pink and emotional song inside Kong Studios during a thunderstorm. Prior to the video, the group used the portals seen in " Désolé" to evade the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

travel restrictions; the journey inadvertently warped Elton John and 6lack's appearances, turning the former into an animated character and the latter into a semi-holographic state. However, the two decide to continue with the shoot regardless. Meanwhile, Murdoc tries to catch the Pink Phantom with a butterfly net. After the song ends, Murdoc, dressed as a matador and strumming a guitar, attempts to join the others, but realises he missed the entire number. The video is based on the opening credits of the 1975 comedy film, ''

The Return of the Pink Panther ''The Return of the Pink Panther'' is a 1975 comedy film and the fourth film in ''The Pink Panther'' series. The film stars Peter Sellers returning to the role of Inspector Clouseau for the first time since '' A Shot in the Dark'' (1964), after ...

''. Elton John was presented in animated form in this music video as per his personal request to Jamie Hewlett.

Track listing

Personnel

Gorillaz *

– vocals, instrumentation, director, bass, keyboards, piano *

– artwork, character design, video direction * Remi Kabaka Jr. – drum programming Additional musicians and personnel *

– vocals, piano *

– vocals, engineering * Stephen Sedgwick – mixing engineer, engineering * Samuel Egglenton – engineering * John Davis – mastering engineer * Matt Doughty – engineering

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pink Phantom, The 2020 songs 2020 singles 6lack songs Elton John songs Gorillaz songs Songs written by Damon Albarn Songs written by Remi Kabaka Jr. Parlophone singles Warner Records singles Songs written by 6lack Psychedelic pop songs Rhythm and blues ballads 2020s ballads Song Machine Chillwave songs