Gorillaz and ScHoolboy Q Celebrate PAC-MAN Game in New Song and Video

The song is the latest addition to the group’s ‘Song Machine’ series.

Are you ever nostalgic for old arcade games that signified a much simpler time? Well, apparently so is British virtual band Gorillaz. The group teamed up with ScHoolboy Q to honor the classic PAC-MAN game in their latest addition to the ongoing music series, Song Machine.

Damon Albarn, Blur musician and Gorillaz co-creator, starts off the track with his mesmerizing low vocals and a rhythmic, electro-pop beat while his character, Stuart “2-D” Pot, plays the arcade game with a familiar, entranced gaze.

ScHoolboy Q makes a virtual entrance – interacting with the blended reality and animation style that the band knows all too well – from a home studio as the line “I’m stressing out” loops in the background. His verses add an extra dose of energy to an otherwise dizzying track.

“PAC-MAN” was recorded in London just before the coronavirus pandemic, assisted by producers Prince Paul and Remi Kabaka Jr.

The song is Gorillaz’s fifth track on Song Machine, a short series of singles and music videos that include collaborations with Slowthai, Slaves, Peter Hook, and Octavian as part of its first season. The group also paid tribute to musician Tony Allen in the song “How Far?” which features Allen alongside Skepta.

Watch the video for “PAC-MAN,” directed by Jamie Hewlett, below:

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