Damon Albarn writing musical as 'leftfield experimental opera' turns mainstream

The Blur frontman has also hinted at an 'uptempo' Gorillaz comeback

Damon Albarn showcased his entire album Everyday Robots (Getty Images)

Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn is adding a West End musical to his string of creative projects.

The 46-year-old has written for the stage before, penning two operas, Monkey: Journey to the West and Dr Dee: An English Opera.

This new idea started life as a “leftfield, experimental opera”, but has since morphed into “a mainstream musical for families” while keeping the same, unknown subject matter.

“It’s funny for me to say, ‘I’m writing a musical’, but yes, that’s what I’m doing next,” Albarn told The Daily Star. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do because musicals are great when they’re done well. I'm trying to summon up the spirit of (Oliver! writer) Lionel Bart."

Before starting work on the musical in September, the Everyday Robots singer revealed that he has been “writing a lot of uptempo songs that sound like Gorillaz”, which will excite fans hoping to see the virtual Nineties band make a comeback.

Albarn headlined Latitude in Suffolk on Saturday night and brought out Blur bandmate Graham Coxon for an encore rendition of “Tender”.

“Everything is good between us all,” he told NME earlier this year. “I’m sure we’ll play again at some point. It’d be mad to go the rest of our life and never play any of those songs again.”