In 2008, Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn announced a new project called "Carousel". He stated the project was creating a concept album about British folk lore. In 2009, he played three demos from the project- "Stylo", "Broken", and "Electric Shock". Jamie Hewlett, the lead artist for the band, said Damon had written 70 songs for the project. The project was scrapped, and later became Gorillaz's third studio album "Plastic Beach". The songs "Stylo" and "Broken" both appears on the album in a finished state, while "Electric Shock" did not. Many tracks shown from the carousel sessions did not appear on the album, but information was obtained from them one way or another.
De La Soul said they had recorded a song with Gorillaz "Sloping Tropics", that didn't appear on the album. A song was heard in a teaser, dubbed "Crashing Down", that was not heard on the album. The British band "The Horrors" said they recorded a song with the band called "Leviathan" with Gruff Rhys, that was briefly played in a low-quality on the documentary on the album. It is rumored that folk artist Beck Hanson recorded with the band at one point or another during the sessions. Damon Albarn has given interest in releasing the unreleased material at some point, saying it was "A lot of very spacey stuff, mostly orchestral...".