Blur’s Damon Albarn reveals he’s moving away from Britpop for very surprising new direction
BRITPOP king Damon Albarn is writing an opera.
The Blur frontman has revealed he is working on a project inspired by the 1807 masterpiece The Magic Flute Part II.
That was the creation of German poet, scientist and playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Damon, who has just finished two huge dates at Wembley Stadium, 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.”
But while Damon is a master of music, he went on to admit it has not been an easy process.
He added: “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.”
‘Different approach’
Damon is keeping himself busy after Blur’s reunion, as he is also working on a new Gorillaz album.
But in an exciting development, Damon revealed he and collaborator Jamie Hewlett would be moving the group in a whole new direction.
He explained: “I’ve done a few tunes.
“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.
“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.
Phone-free life
“You need that for it to stay alive, really.”
Damon, who will appear on the Broken Record podcast, said he was also choosing to live a phone-free life after years of being glued to his mobile.
He added: “We live in an echo chamber.
“Anyone who has got a phone is in on it, in one way or another, that’s why I don’t have a phone.
“I suppose it came from my belief that we are living in the most narcissistic age ever.
“The epoch of man, I don’t know if he can get any more narcissistic than he is now, or they are now.
“Collectively we are living through this.”
Em goes with the Flo
FLORENCE PUGH and Emily Blunt took the plunge to promote their new film.
The stars were in Leicester Square yesterday at the photocall for big-screen thriller Oppenheimer.
Florence, with short pink hair, went braless in a quirky blue denim playsuit and white heels.
Meanwhile, Emily shone in a bronze metallic suit with open-toed heels.
The film, out July 21, tells the story of how one man’s creation of the atomic bomb changed the world.
Florence and Emily appear alongside Peaky Blinders leading man Cillian Murphy and Hollywood stalwarts Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr.
I don’t miss Zayn-y life of a celebrity
ZAYN MALIK has spoken publicly for the first time in six years – to admit that he loves life away from the spotlight in the US.
The former One Direction singer had vanished from public view and become a recluse after setting up home in Pennsylvania and learning to cope with anxiety.
He now lives a sheltered existence surrounded by animals and making music away from daily public scrutiny.
Zayn, who will drop his comeback single Love Like This on July 21, said: “We have three cats, three dogs, three turtles and six chickens.
“I’ve not named the chickens this time as I got too attached last time and it made me sad.
“I took one to the vet and the vet laughed at me.
“I cried and she died in my arms.”
Zayn admits part of the reason he lives away from the likes of New York or LA is to give his daughter Khai, who he shares with supermodel Gigi Hadid, the most normal life possible.
It’s in stark contrast to his former bandmates Harry Styles and Liam Payne, who are both regularly snapped either out and about or touring the world.
Zayn told the Call Her Daddy podcast he doesn’t want his daughter to be impacted by having famous parents.
He said of life in the limelight: “She didn’t choose it, that’s why we live here.
“I’m trying to give her an option and choose if she wants to be away from it, she can come here.
“I have her 50 per cent of the time and that is so important.
“She is growing up so fast.
“When I’m with her I don’t work.
“I spend the day with her doing things she wants like painting, park, the zoo and have fun.”
Zayn shattered hearts when he quit 1D, but admits: “I look back now in a much fonder light than when I first left.
“It just ran its course.
“The first thing I wanted to do was ring my mum and be like, ‘Can I come home?’.”
Despite not enjoying life as a celebrity, Zayn is ready to return to the charts.
As well as Love Like This, he is working on his fourth album – his first since 2021’s Nobody Is Listening.
Madge crashed Noel do
NOEL GALLAGHER has opened up about his wild 50th birthday bash – and revealed the biggest diva of all was there on the night
Recalling the Narcos-themed bash, which was held at Aynhoe Park in Oxfordshire, the High Flying Birds frontman said Madonna crashed the mega party.
Guests including Bob Geldof, Michael Fassbender and Russell Brand partied until the early hours.
And Noel said of Madge: “She was insistent that we play her tunes.”
Noel, who marked his milestone with the celebrity-packed event six years ago, went on to admit he hated hearing Oasis songs when he was out, and revealed that he would walk out if someone started playing their hits where he ate.
He added: “I’m in a restaurant and you can hear Wonderwall in the background – that happens to me quite a lot.
“If I go into a restaurant, all of a sudden f***ing Wonderwall will come on
“It’s like, am I going to get up on the table and start playing air acoustic?”
JENNIFER LOPEZ looked ready for bed as she went out for lunch in Los Angeles with her daughter.
The All I Have star wore an oversized fleece hoodie with matching trousers for their visit to Mauro’s café.
J-Lo didn’t disappoint with the price tag, however.
The dressed-down singer and actress paid a whopping £775 for her enormous Jacquemus jumper.
Walford can wait, says Ray
HE was being lined up to replace Danny Dyer as the new hardman of EastEnders.
But Ray Winstone won’t be accepting the BBC’s offer just yet.
The actor told me: “I’ve been asked many times. I’m very flattered by it and I’ve got some great friends there, like Perry Fenwick, and over the years I’ve made many more.
“But again, it’s the same scenario as theatre – I don’t want to get locked into something that long, because I may as well go and do a 9 to 5 job in an office somewhere.”
Ray has been supporting his a daughter Jaime on stage in 2:22 A Ghost Story and admitted he had told her to ignore any of his advice.
He said with a laugh: “I told her not to listen to anything I say, because these kids know more.
“I’m glad I wasn’t around in that whole era of social media because everyone is too easy to get in touch with today.
“I come from old stock, and if someone said something nasty about you, it wouldn’t really f***ing worry me. I just laugh it off.
“What don’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Sounds like good advice.
Lily’s reddy to eat
LILY ALLEN is centre stage as she heads off into the West End after appearing in her latest play.
She was dressed to impress in an eye-catching red outfit while leaving London’s Duke of York Theatre following her performance in The Pillowman and then going for dinner.
The off-the-shoulder dress teased her trim frame thanks to its semi-sheer material.
Lily’s role in the play comes after her 2021 West End debut in 2:22 Ghost Story.
While she has not released an album since 2018’s No Shame, Lily still has music on her mind.
She has written musical versions of Black Mirror and Bridget Jones’s Diary, which have not yet gone into production.