Damon Albarn appears to have confirmed that a new Gorillaz album is on the way

Damon Albarn has seemingly confirmed that a new Gorillaz album is on the way.

The frontman alluded to work on a new record from the cartoon outfit during an interview with French publication Les Inrockuptibles published on Tuesday (March 25), claiming that he has been busy "finishing a new Gorillaz album."

Albarn had been discussing his new "electro opera" The Magic Flute II, La Malédiction, which premiered the Lido 2 in Paris yesterday (March 27).

"I'm finishing a new Gorillaz album," he told Les Inrockuptibles. "One opera and one new Gorillaz album seems like enough for 2025! Unless someone accuses me of taking my foot off the gas!"

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The news appeared to be confirmed by Gorillaz co-creator and Illustrator Jamie Hewlett, with Instagram fan page Everythin' Gorillaz sharing an apparent message from the artist saying: "Yes, the new album is coming out this year."

The prospective project would be Gorillaz's ninth LP record. The virtual group's last album was 2023's 'Cracker Island', which featured collaborations with Tame Impala, Thundercat and Stevie Nicks.

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A sequel of Mozart's The Magic Flute, the script for Albarn's new opera was originally written by John Wolfgang von Goethe in 1807 - but it was never put to music.

For the new version, Albarn composed an original electronic score, telling Les Inrockuptibles that it's "one of the best things I've ever done."

In a statement shared to his Facebook page in February, Albarn said the inspiration behind The Magic Flute had come not from classical references, but from Kraftwerk.

"The idea of me writing an opera and for it to be a continuation of The Magic Flute sounds ridiculous, it was and is, not only was I grappling with the genius of Mozart but I had Goethe to contend with too!!" he wrote.

"I suppose I took a relatively reductionist approach to the question, how the fuck do I do this? The answer came from a surprising source but one no less brilliant, Kraftwerk."

[via Les Inrockuptibles]

Henrietta Taylor is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter