Orchestral Intro (feat. Sinfonia ViVA)

This is the opening track from Plastic Beach, the third studio album by the virtual band Gorillaz. The band is a creation of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. Gorillaz is composed of four animated band members: lead vocalist and keyboardist 2D, bass guitarist Murdoc Niccals, lead guitarist Noodle and drummer Russel Hobbs.

Murdoc discussed this orchestral piece on the Gorillaz website: "I needed something other-worldly to open the record. This album's been a while in the making and this needed to be The Big Reveal. It needed to be portentous, vast and… oceanic. But graceful. Like the morphine's just gently kicking in as the listener glides into the Plastic Bay. Mmmm."

Murdoc added: "This little symphony was recorded with the Sinfonia Viva orchestra, in Derby, around April 2009. I recorded with them in the old Rolls Royce engine factory, where they built the engines for the World War II spitfires. Which fits the soul of all this - a bygone era, the remnants of war and planes and decay."