Gnarls Barkley Return With Reflective Single ‘Pictures’

Gnarls Barkley released a new single, “Pictures.” The song is the duo’s first new music in 18 years, and previews their forthcoming album, Atlanta, out March 6 via 10k Projects/Atlantic Records.

Atlanta will mark CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse‘s final release under the Gnarls Barkley moniker. The group previously released two LPs, 2006’s St. Elsewhere and 2008’s The Odd Couple, and always had the intention to record a third album. Last year, the duo reconnected and decided to record new music.

“’Pictures’ is like going back to square one,” Green said in a statement. “It’s a full circle moment. The spirit of Gnarls Barkley is always self-discovery. The sweet, the sad, and the strange. The universe, the adventure inside of yourself.”

“Pictures” was inspired by Atlanta’s MARTA public train system, which the musicians’ recalled from their younger years there in the ’90s.

“The song came from a childhood experience,” Green said. “I had a middle school principal who, every Friday would tell me to go when I would get to school. Without fail. I was in 8th grade and I would leave school and ride the train alone from 8 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. The hook of the song is literally about being on the train. When you are in transit it’s like a motion picture passing you by… staring out the window of the MARTA train.”

Since disbanding Gnarls Barkley, Green and Danger Mouse have both pursued solo careers. Green dropped his sixth studio album, CeeLo Green is Thomas Calloway, in 2020, while Danger Mouse has collaborated with numerous artists, including Black Thought and Karen O.

Green has been teasing the return of Gnarls Barkley for over a decade. In 2010, he told Rolling Stone, ‘We’ll get started again in the near future.” Four years later, he noted he was surprise by the desire for more music from the group.

“I didn’t realize the importance of [a new Gnarls Barkley album] or the anticipation for it until recently,” he said. “I was going through an airport at about 5:45am on the way to Atlanta and a guy from TMZ asked me would I be working on another Gnarls. And I was like, ‘Yeah, next year.’ I was a little dismissive because I don’t want to get involved that early – but it just kind of went like wildfire. And I was like, ‘Wow, okay. People are still interested to see what we could do.’ And so am I. Gnarls Barkley is an alter ego and something like an out of body experience.”

Atlanta is available to pre-order via the band’s website.