El mañana

The song El Mañana, part of the album Demon Days by Gorillaz, presents us with a striking visual narrative intertwined with the music. The video accompanying this track, directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland, picks up the story where Feel Good Inc. left off. We see Noodle on her floating island, enjoying the calm, until two helicopters, identified as Comanche, burst in firing. The island, which appears to be a haven of peace in a desolate world, begins to be attacked, perhaps symbolizing the fragility of nature against industry or innocence against war. The spinning windmill could evoke the passage of time, an echo of 2-D's phrase "time is sinking" from the previous song. The depiction of the helicopters and destruction could be a critique of war, with references to Iraq and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki resonating in the plot.

This single, released on April 10, 2006, in the UK as a double A-side with Kids with Guns, reached number 27 on the British charts, a different position from previous singles. The recording of Demon Days took place at Kong Studios in London, and featured production by Danger Mouse, Jason Cox, and James Dring. For El Mañana, the instrumentation was enriched by the participation of Simon Tong on additional guitar, strings by Sally Jackson, Antonia Pagulatos, Amanda Drummond, Stella Page, Isabelle Dunn, Al Mobbs, and Emma Smith. The song was written by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, who created Gorillaz in 1998.