The Gorillaz-D12 collaboration "911," recorded just days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, has surfaced on the animated quartet's Web site.
The influence of the day's tragic events is apparent on the ominously slogging Middle Eastern-flavored track, which features a sitar-laced chorus and references to bombs, terrorists, the changing world and Osama bin Laden.
"We had organized [the collaboration] beforehand, and [the terrorist attacks] added a different context, to say the least, to what we did together," Damon Albarn, the voice of Gorillaz frontman 2-D, said in October (see "Gorillaz Go Back To Drawing Board For '19-2000' Video, Work With D12").
While stranded in London and unable to fly back to the States following the grounding of all U.S. airplanes, Eminem protégés D12 visited the Gorillaz's Kong Studios, where they recorded the track with contributions from Terry Hall of veteran ska group the Specials.
To hear the track, visitors to the Gorillaz's online virtual world must click on the jukebox located in the Kong Studios lobby, where they'll find "911" nestled alongside remixes of singles "Clint Eastwood" and "19-2000" as well as material only included on U.K. singles. While it's available as a streaming audio file now, the cyber-savvy band will offer "911" as a download on December 7, according to the site.
"The more and more I think about the Internet, the more I think that it's a great place for music to be heard early on by people who are interested," Albarn said.
There are currently no plans to release the song as a single, according to a Virgin Records spokesperson.
In other Gorillaz goings on, the phenomenon surrounding the fictitious foursome who've sold nearly 1 million copies of their self-titled debut, according to SoundScan will be examined in a 30-minute documentary slated to air on the U.K.'s Channel 4 later this year, the spokesperson said.
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