The Good, the Bad & the Queen
Damon Albarn's latest extra-curricular project is a supergroup featuring Paul Simonon (the Clash), Simon Tong (the Verve), and legendary Afrobeat percussionist Tony Allen. Together, the quartet create a downcast set of politcally aware songs that reflects the mood of life in the UK during wartime.
You can't fake chemistry, which is why more memorable music comes from people who came up together, even if they hate each other (e.g. Rage Against The Machine), than from mated-in-captivity assemblages of talented musicians (e.g. Audioslave). That's why supergroups, however awesome the lineup, tend to be…
The Damon Albarn-led troupe return after 11 years with an album that plods through Brexit Britain at an almost agonising pace
In this context, the post-Graham Coxon Blur albumThink Tank seemed less like a band effort than another conceptual project directed by Albarn instead of the work of a band, which is what all these new-millennium projects were at their core, including the Good, the Bad & the Queen, a quartet comprised of himself, Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Tony Allen, Fela Kuti's drummer, who was name-checked in Blur's "Music Is My Radar," and whose eponymous 2007 album is produced by Danger Mouse, who previously collaborated with Albarn on Gorillaz's second album, 2005's Demon Days.
<p>Damon Albarn could have fallen flat on his face here. But this love letter to the capital might be his finest hour, writes <strong>Ben Thompson</strong>.</p>
Damon Albarn's new music is touched by the colors of the old English music hall, wartime laments, and Britpop, as well as subtle shades of reggae, dub, and...