[9] According to a press release, it was recorded in London, Paris, New York City, Chicago, and Jamaica, and was produced by The Twilite Tone and Remi Kabaka Jr.[10] It was the band's first studio album since 2010's The Fall, and features collaborations with Jehnny Beth, Grace Jones, Kali Uchis, Vince Staples, Popcaan, D.R.A.M., Anthony Hamilton, De La Soul, Danny Brown, Kelela, Mavis Staples, Pusha T, and Benjamin Clementine.

Humanz debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, selling over 140,000 copies in its first week of sales.

After the release of their 2010 album The Fall, rumours began to circulate on the internet that Gorillaz creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett had fallen out, and that this had led to the band split; People subsequently reported this to be true.

[17] Gorillaz released a single with James Murphy and André 3000 commissioned by Converse, titled "DoYaThing", on 23 February 2012.

In April 2012, in an interview with The Guardian, Albarn stated that Gorillaz were "unlikely" to release new music, citing Hewlett's dissatisfaction that his animation had become less central to the band and their performances.

"[23] On 19 January 2017, Gorillaz released the first track from the album, "Hallelujah Money" featuring Benjamin Clementine, accompanied by a music video as a non-commercial single on Uproxx's YouTube channel.

The second clip was a time-lapse video featuring Albarn, Remi Kabaka Jr, the Twilite Tone and Jean-Michel Jarre.

[32][33][34][35] In an interview with Q magazine, Albarn revealed that he reached out to collaborate with a number of different artists, many of whom turned him down, including English musician Morrissey, Dionne Warwick – who was unwilling to collaborate as some lyrics on the record conflicted with her religious views, singer Sade, and American rapper Rick Ross.

[40][41] The group also reportedly recorded with Erykah Badu, whom Albarn had previously worked with on his Rocket Juice & the Moon project.

A photo of this was also uploaded to Kabaka's Instagram, with the album's other executive producer the Twilite Tone, attempting to place the lyrics in an order for the song.

[36][43][44] Album recording engineer Stephen Sedgwick's final mix session of "Charger" contains 90 separate tracks.

The idea to include Jehnny Beth came about after XL Recordings founder Richard Russell said that Gallagher and Albarn "were two rich middle-aged men singing about having the power, which is not a good look".

Albarn revealed that the song was initially supposed to feature American stand-up comedian and actor Dave Chappelle, however, he became convinced after chatting to De La Soul member, Posdnuos.

The Anthony Hamilton-featuring "Carnival" originated from Albarn's experiences of visiting a carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, which inspired Hamilton in both his lyrics and vocal performance, while song and title "Sex Murder Party" came from a newspaper headline that Twilite Tone and Albarn read, which prompted the song's creation.

[45] While promoting the album Merrie Land by the Good, the Bad & the Queen, Albarn revealed that he had reached out to singer Morrissey, from the Smiths, to appear on the song "Circle of Friendz", which ended up as a bonus track on the album's deluxe edition featuring Brandon Markell Holmes, but was unable to convince him to appear on the song.

During his acceptance speech, he spoke out about his love of the band Simple Minds and how they may be shaping the new Gorillaz record: "From someone who grew up in Leytonstone, it was a culture shock to say the least.

It took place on 10 June at the Dreamland amusement park, with free access to rides, and was also broadcast live, via Red Bull TV.

[62] The festival was revealed to feature a number of collaborators from the album and other musicians that influenced the band, such as Vince Staples, De La Soul, Fufanu, Danny Brown, Little Simz, Kali Uchis, Popcaan and Kilo Kish.

The same day, Gorillaz redesigned their website and announced a secret live concert at Printworks Nightclub, London, on the evening of 24 March 2017, featuring the first full performance of the album, and made a livestream on their Facebook page at the event.

[70] On 17 April 2017, the Humanz Tour was formally announced on the band's official website, with concerts in Europe, Asia, North and South America.

[73] Common points of praise from reviewers pertain to the album's political themes, as well as its dark, yet playful "party" sound.

Josh Gray of Clash felt that the band had "created their most youthful album yet; a vibrant record which paints a picture of the near future so vivid it seems convincingly real.

"[83] Kenneth Partridge from Paste gave it an 8.5 rating and wrote "The result: the most vibrant, consistently engaging Gorillaz album yet".

[84] Writing for Exclaim!, Cam Lindsay posited that despite the album lacking any "Apple-friendly jingles", it "makes up for it with palatably overarching political themes and sequencing that gives it the wildly entertaining feel of a circus show.

"[4] Niall Doherty of Q magazine pointed out Albarn's diminished vocal influence on the album compared to the two albums he had been involved with prior, Everyday Robots and The Magic Whip, concluding the review with "What Humanz lacks in memorable hooks, it makes up for in fist-clenching spirit – and 'We Got The Power' sums that up best.

A defiant anthem featuring a thrilling turn from Savages' singer Jehnny Beth, it ensures an album about wading through the dark days ends on a triumphant note.

By positioning its four digital members just outside of the line of vision, though, it feels like an outlier in the band's catalog — which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"[76] Record Collector thought of it both as a flaw but also its strength, stating that "the album throws it all at you in one gloriously delirious barrage that has no real anchor.

"[87] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone wrote "If it's an uneven LP, it's fairly brilliant by mixtape standards, which may be the best way to measure it.