Gorillaz have long been equal parts music and mythology. This is a band, after all, whose core members are animated characters. But with The Mountain, Gorillaz’s ninth studio album, that dichotomy is taken to new heights—and the results are exhilarating. First, the mythology: we find (animated members) Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs, 2-D and Noodle in India, having abandoned pop stardom to seek something deeper. And now, the music: The Mountain is an insanely ambitious psych-pop record, twirling wildly through mystical Indian classical, Britpop, hip-hop, dub and more. The vocals of Blur frontman Damon Albarn are most present, but you’ll also hear Bobby Womack, The Roots’ Black Thought, The Fall’s Mark E. Smith, IDLES’ Joe Talbot and others. Gorillaz recorded this behemoth in England, India, Turkmenistan, Syria and the United States, looping in styles and languages of those locations.

If this all feels like a laundry list of album stats and stories, then focus on this instead—The Mountain never loses sight of what makes pop great, melodies that make you hum along and music that gets your head bobbing. These 15 tracks just draw from a far, far wider musical palette than most pop artists ever dream of. Take “The Plastic Guru,” where we hear sitar legend Anoushka Shankar and guitar icon Johnny Marr trade lines while Albarn and a full chorus crow: “We believe what we choose, is that not the truth?” The track ends with an Indian marching band. “Damascus” invites in Syrian star Omar Souleyman and rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) to a buzzing, deliriously fun fusion of traditional Middle Eastern dabke and American hip-hop. Gorillaz have always been avant-pop boundary pushers. But they’ve never embraced a borderless world quite like this.