Damon Albarn has revealed that he is currently in the process of working on both an opera and a new Gorillaz album.
Albarn confirmed the news of his opera project on the Broken Record Podcast, sharing his plans to put Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1807 “The Magic Flute Part II” to music for the first time. He said, “I’m doing an opera at the moment, using Goethe’s fragment he wrote about The Magic Flute Part II, which is fascinating. You’ve heard of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’? Well, Goethe, who is a contemporary of Mozart, wrote ‘Part II’ of that — the sequel — but it never got put to music. It’s this legendary lost thing.”
Albarn admitted to feeling less confident when delving into the world of opera, saying, “I don’t really know what I’m doing. I never know what I’m doing in that world, I’m a complete idiot. I don’t know if it’s any good. With songs, I’m more confident about that.”
On the podcast, Albarn also confirmed that he is working more within his comfort zone by creating a new Gorillaz album.
Bon voyage, Stuart, Matlock, Rusty, and Nödel.
सुरक्षित प्रवास ✈️ pic.twitter.com/n5j6D2V160— gorillaz (@gorillaz) June 21, 2023
Speaking on the direction that the new Gorillaz album will take, Albarn said, “It’s not going to be as dramatic as a quantum shift, it will be a paradigm shift, it will be very different. It will be an entirely different approach to everything — to the band, to everything.”
He continued, “We’re at a point where we’re going to change. Why? Because it was always just Jamie and I. Although it is a very big thing now, it is still, in essence, just two people. If we decided between us that we want to do something unrecognisable then we will. You need that for it to stay alive, really.”
Albarn has not yet confirmed release dates for either his opera or his new Gorillaz project, but has confirmed plans for Blur. Blur recently announced a special gig in which they will play their newest album, The Ballad of Darren, in full.
The show will take place at London’s Eventim Apollo on 25th July 2023 and will see the band perform the album in full for the first and only time. Physical tickets are only available to those who pre-ordered The Ballad of Darren, and are on sale from 18th July 2023. Fans can order tickets to watch a livestream of the show however, with these available to purchase here.
Listen to Albarn’s Broken Record Podcast episode here.
