New Delhi, March 8 -- In a New Delhi studio, flautist Ajay Prasanna finishes a take and turns to look through the control room window. On the other side of the glass, he sees Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett sitting quietly, tears rolling down their eyes. No words are spoken. The music-a classic Gorillaz electro-hop tune threaded with delicate strands of Indian classical flute-has done the talking.

Moments like this shaped The Mountain, the animated band's ninth album. Inspired by and recorded during "two classic Indian odysseys", the album finds Albarn and Hewlett taking their famously shape-shifting project into new territory-weaving Indian instruments and spiritual symbolism into songs haunted by grief, memory and rebirth.

There are in...