Gorillaz Releases “PAC-MAN” Music Video

The popular “virtual” band Gorillaz has released a new music video for a song called “PAC-MAN” that, well, prominently homages the video game character and coin-op arcade cabinet of the same name. The song’s release coincides with PAC-MAN‘s 40th anniversary this year, and it features American rapper ScHoolboy Q in addition to vocals from 2D (Damon Albarn) as well. The song was produced by Prince Paul, Remi Kabaka Jr., and Gorillaz and recorded in London prior to lockdown.

The music video, which you can watch in full above, is technically the fifth episode of an ongoing series from Gorillaz called Song Machine where the band is joined by a variety of different collaborators filmed live in the studio. (The obvious conceit here is that the virtual band is also part of this process.) “The video for ‘PAC-MAN’ sees the virtual band feel the effects of an arcade game machine procured for Kong Studios by Gorillaz bassist Murdoc Niccals in mysterious circumstances,” the press release for the new song reads in part, “resulting in some unexpected cartoon visitors.”

Gorillaz, the brainchild of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, is a “virtual” band consisting of singer 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, guitarist Noodle, and drummer Russel Hobbs. The band shot to popularity with the release of their first album in 2001 and following releases of Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), and more. The most recent album is 2018’s The Now Now. You can check out our previous coverage of the band right here.

What do you think of the “PAC-MAN” music video? Would you be into more video games-related music from Gorillaz? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!