Possibly the busiest man in British music, Damon Albarn has revealed that he has finished recording his first solo album.
Known best for fronting Britpop giants Blur and animated musical troupe Gorillaz, Albarn has also released music with supergroups the Good, the Bad & the Queen, as well as Rocket Juice and the Moon. Still not satisfied with the heavy workload, Albarn released a record of songs from his Dr. Dee opera last year, as well.
So, as hard as it is to believe, the recently wrapped LP will mark the first official solo album from the '90s Britpop icon.
He told Rolling Stone that the album was recorded with Richard Russell, who heads up XL Records and co-produced Bobby Womack's Bravest Man in the Universe with Albarn. "He's done spectacularly well as a music mogul, but I think he wants to focus his energy on producing records," said Albarn. "Making a solo record can be such a disaster, so I thought if we're going to make a record with my name on it, I should get someone to really produce it — take that responsibility away from myself. Richard does the kind of rhythmic side of it and I do everything else."
Albarn further explained the album, describing it as "sort of folk soul" and went on to say that when he tours in support of it, he'll be playing music from all of his different projects.
If that wasn't exciting enough for fans of Albarn's work, he also hinted that new Blur material could be on the way. "We've got a couple of occasions when we're stuck in the middle of nowhere," he said. "So we might make the record in a week. If we can, it would be nice."
Blur released a pair of new tunes — "Under the Westway" and "The Puritan" — last summer.
Known best for fronting Britpop giants Blur and animated musical troupe Gorillaz, Albarn has also released music with supergroups the Good, the Bad & the Queen, as well as Rocket Juice and the Moon. Still not satisfied with the heavy workload, Albarn released a record of songs from his Dr. Dee opera last year, as well.
So, as hard as it is to believe, the recently wrapped LP will mark the first official solo album from the '90s Britpop icon.
He told Rolling Stone that the album was recorded with Richard Russell, who heads up XL Records and co-produced Bobby Womack's Bravest Man in the Universe with Albarn. "He's done spectacularly well as a music mogul, but I think he wants to focus his energy on producing records," said Albarn. "Making a solo record can be such a disaster, so I thought if we're going to make a record with my name on it, I should get someone to really produce it — take that responsibility away from myself. Richard does the kind of rhythmic side of it and I do everything else."
Albarn further explained the album, describing it as "sort of folk soul" and went on to say that when he tours in support of it, he'll be playing music from all of his different projects.
If that wasn't exciting enough for fans of Albarn's work, he also hinted that new Blur material could be on the way. "We've got a couple of occasions when we're stuck in the middle of nowhere," he said. "So we might make the record in a week. If we can, it would be nice."
Blur released a pair of new tunes — "Under the Westway" and "The Puritan" — last summer.