In a recent interview for NME, Damon Albarn spoke on his current music output and what we can expect in the future from his bands Blur and of course, Gorillaz.
While Albarn said that he would be down for a “post-pandemic reunion” with Blur, we can also expect new music from the Gorillaz. And not just any Gorillaz music: carnival-themed music.
Albarn says that as well as working on a new solo album which he finished back in February this year, “I’ve been working on carnival-themed music with Gorillaz with a lot of people from west London. We’re really going back to the spirit of the first record.”
He continued, “It’s really exciting and we’ve been really enjoying it. It’s a nice kind of counter-balance to ‘The Nearer The Fountain…’, really. I’ve definitely needed a dose of something else after I finished that record. Steel pan drums and Casio MT-40s were always going to be a good cure.”
Earlier this year, Gorillaz followed suit with the industry, launching their own non-fungible token (NFT), but it wasn’t without much criticism.
The band had decided to sell a collection of NFT collectibles to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album. Where did the criticism stem from? According to NME, due to the fact that NFT’s actually have a very big impact on the environment and climate change in particular, many people are very unimpressed.
This landed negatively on the Gorillaz as if you recall – their first album, Plastic Beach was all about environmentalism.
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Looking back on Gorillaz, the band’s bassist Murdoc Niccals said, “I’m exhausted. 20 years is a long time to be top of your game and let’s be clear here, it’s a one man gig keeping this show on the road.”
He added, “A lot of names get bandied about, a lot of pretenders to the throne, one or two in particular… but there is only one Murdoc Niccals. As an ex of mine once said, it’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.”
