DARE

The song Dare, released in 2005, became a high point for Gorillaz as their first single to reach number one on the UK charts. The radio edit was available in digital stores from June 2005, while in the United States its arrival was in mid-October. There, in January 2006, it ranked 87th on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 8 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in February of the same year. A curious detail about its title is that, as commented at the 2006 Brit Awards, it was considered to be called It's There, but Shaun Ryder's accent, vocalist of Happy Mondays, made it sound like It's Dare. However, in 2019, Ryder himself denied this rumor, calling it a myth.

In the performance of Dare, the lead vocals are by Noodle, performed by Rosie Wilson, who takes over from Miho Hatori from the first album. 2-D's voice appears in the backing vocals, mixed in such a way that Noodle's predominates. A demo version of the song, titled People, can be found on the remix album D-Sides, where Damon Albarn sings completely and fewer keyboards and effects are noticeable than in the final version. The music video, directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland, features Shaun Ryder as a giant head dependent on Noodle's machinery. The narrative focuses on Noodle, with brief appearances by 2-D, Russel, and Murdoc. The video, which leaked before its official release on August 30, 2005, evokes classic horror cinema with references to The Exorcist, Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, and The Brain That Wouldn't Die. There are also nods to Atari video games and films like Cannibal Holocaust. The virtual band Gorillaz was created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, and is composed of the characters 2-D, Noodle, Murdoc Niccals, and Russel Hobbs, with Albarn as the only permanent musical member. The recording of Demon Days, the album from which Dare is taken, took place at Studio 13 in London and featured production by Danger Mouse, Jason Cox, and James Dring.