A little while ago, Damon Albarn said that he was making the new Gorillaz album on his iPad. He also said that he hoped to release it by the end of 2010. Well, on December 25, Albarn’s Christmas wish will come true: Gorillaz new album will be released for free on the holiday.

In an interview with Australia’s Perth Now, Albarn’s Gorillaz collaborator Jamie Hewlett spilled the beans about the album, which will be made available on the band’s website as the ultimate prize on Gorillaz Advent Calendar. “On Christmas Eve, a video for one of the new songs from the iPad album will be released,” Hewlett said. “Then, on Christmas Day fans get the whole album downloaded to their computer for free as a gift.”

Albarn previously said that the unnamed album was inspired by America, during Gorillaz recent North American tour. “It sounds like an English voice that has been put through a vocoder of America,” he told NME.

looks like you need to a (paid) member of the fan club.
but i'll check back on the 25th to be sure.

Damon Albarn has revealed the name of the new Gorillaz album. He told Australia’s Triple J radio that the free release due on Christmas Day will be called The Fall. The name likely comes from when it was recorded. The Fall was mostly made during Albarn’s band’s autumn tour of North America.
As previously reported, the album can be downloaded for free at http://Gorillaz.com starting on December 25. During the radio interview, Albarn confirmed that most of the album was made using an iPad, although a few tweaks were added later.
You can listen to the full interview with Albarn by clicking here.

The Fall, Gorillaz' fourth album which received a download only release last Christmas Day, is now to was released in physical formats in April.

Originally available as a free download to members of Gorillaz' Sub Division fanclub, the album is now set to be released on 180gm vinyl for Record Store Day on 16th April and on CD and digital download two days later on 18th April.

Speaking about the album the band's 2D had this to say:

“Uhmmm… The first Gorillaz album, our debut record, was more Russel’s…like… lots of hip-hop, funk and Cuban dub stars. Demon Days right, came more from Noodle and her dark doomy demos that she made, and all of her contemplations on the world ‘in a place of night’.

"Plastic Beach came out mainly from Murdoc’s head, all of his mucky exploits and global collaborations and legendary mash-ups recorded on the Plastic Beach island in the middle of the ocean. Very rum and piratey…

"And this one The Fall, is mostly just me…something more gentle and just…well… it’s just me and an iPad really mucking about… trying out some stuff.

"Just looking at America and then tapping on the screen… I’m not really concentrating too hard on it…

So, right, each album got all of us on it somewhere, but each time it’s… more of one of us than the others… Well, that’s how I see it anyway.”

As previously reported, The Fall was recorded during the Gorillaz 19 date North American Tour last autumn, and was produced by Gorillaz and Stephen Sedgwick.

Product Description
From Montreal to Vancouver via Seattle, Texas and Toronto, over 32 days on their North American Tour this autumn, Gorillaz recorded a musical diary. The result is a collection of 15 tracks, some with vocals, some without, some combined performances and some solo. The 15 track sonic journal, titled The Fall, was produced by Gorillaz and Stephen Sedgwick.

The music was recorded during spare time while on the road. "I did it because there's a lot of time that you just spend staring at walls essentially. And it was a fantastic way of doing it" says Damon Albarn. "I found working in the day, whether it's in the hotel or in the venue, it was a brilliant way of keeping myself well." Adding that the collection is "..like a diary, I literally wrote everything on the day in each place and there's a strange sort of sound of America and its musical traditions that comes through. It feels like a journey through America."

The Fall

01. Phoner To Arizona
02. Revolving Doors
03. HillBilly Man
04. Detroit
05. Shy-town
06. Little Pink Plastic Bags
07. The Joplin Spider
08. The Parish Of Space Dust
09. The Snake In Dallas
10. Amarillo
11. The Speak It Mountains
12. Aspen Forest
13. Bobby In Phoenix [feat. Bobby Womack]
14. California And The Slipping Of The Sun
15. Seattle Yodel

CD:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OFWLPE/?tag=imwan-20

MP3:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004U2B04Y/?tag=imwan-20

Incidentally, does anyone know if this was ever available with jewel case packaging? I've only seen cardboard packaging since its retail release last year...