Monday, November 22nd 2010

News:  Gorillaz

Damon Albarn Discusses New Gorillaz Album, Blur’s Future

By Johnny Firecloud

Saturday morning we brought you a beautifully stripped three-song Gorillaz performance from the day’s BBC Radio 1 show, and now we’ve got the accompanying interview for your listening pleasure.

In the interview with BBC’s Jo Whiley, frontman Damon Albarn discusses everything from his TV watching habits, to his erratic relationship with America and the new album it inspired. Their recent arena tour of the States had such a positive impact on the frontman (thanks chiefly to the ecstatically supportive audiences) that he reportedly recorded an entire album on his iPad while on the road.

Listen:

One recurring issue for Albarn is the matter of one record company dominating the entire landscape of popular music in England, perpetuated by shows like X Factor.  “There needs to be more space for spontaneity, and I think they’re suffocating that,” he explains without a hint of hyperbole.

As for future plans with Blur, Damon explains it really comes down to scheduling. ”We meet up from time to time, and we all get on,” he explains. “There’s no reason for us not to get on. We always discuss the idea of doing stuff in the future, but personally I’m a bit too busy at the moment.” His schedule the next 12 months is “full,” and he plans to get involved in a much more esoteric, far less commercial project in the near future.

As for the new Gorillaz album, details are still sketchy, but the iPad album was reportedly written during Albarn’s many solitary hours on the road between shows, serving a sort of diary for his everyday experiences in America. He’s “really happy with the results,” and intends “to get it out there in some form before Christmas.”

So there you have it.

Much thanks to Rocko at SomeKindofAwesome for the clip.