Gorillaz have confirmed the details of their third album, Plastic Beach, which is to be unleashed on March 8th. Once again the tracklisting features an incredible lineup of 'how-the-hell-did-they-persuade-them-to-get-involved?' type guests, from soul legends (Bobby Womack) to hip hop greats (Mos Def and De La Soul) via a few that have come straight from the land of the mental (Mark E Smith, Lou Reed, plus The Clash's Mick Jones and Paul Simonon reunited).

Probably the most enticing on paper is 'Superfast Jellyfish', which features both Gruff Rhys and De La. The prospect of this reminds us of 'Fallin'', the early 90s collaboration between De La and Teenage Fanclub (see our clip of the day). However, as with everything else Gorillaz have ever done, the strong suspicion of at least some of us here at Flashlight Towers is that the whole thing will be 73 times more impressive on paper than on record. Past Gorillaz efforts have managed to make both De La Soul and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien sound like they'd never rapped before in their lives. Judging by the hugely underwhelming electro-bore that is first single 'Stylo' (see next weeks' Tracks section), they've managed the same trick with Mos Def this time around. We'll see, but the portents aren't good, no matter who the guests are.

The tracklisting for Plastic Beach is as follows:

'Orchestral Intro'
'Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach' (feat. Snoop Dogg)
'White Flag' (feat. Kano & Bashy)
'Rhinestone Eyes'
'Stylo' (feat. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
'Superfast Jellyfish' (feat. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
'Empire Ants' (feat. Little Dragon)
'Glitter Freeze' (feat. Mark E Smith)
'Some Kind Of Nature' (feat. Lou Reed)
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Broken'
'Sweepstakes' (feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
'Plastic Beach' (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)
'To Binge' (feat. Little Dragon)
'Cloud Of Unknowing' (feat. Bobby Womack)
'Pirate Jet'