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Damon Albarn & Paul Simonon on 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen'

added 22 January 2007 at 16.59

The two musical giants give their full commentary on one of this years most eagerly debut albums.

Having enjoyed huge success with Gorrilaz, Damon Albarn is now throwing himself into a new project, The Good The Bad And The Queen. 

Combining forces with Clash bassist Paul Simonon, former Verve guitarist Simon Tong and Africa 70 drummer and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, Albarn’s new incarnation is very promising indeed. Following a stunning live performance at a resurrected Camden Roundhouse as part of the October’s Electric Proms season, they released and deleted their debut single "Herculean". 

Subsequently they played to 300 selected fans at Wilton's Music Hall in East London and their debut album is produced by the legendary Danger Mouse, bursting with London centric songs and the sort of quirky characterisations we have come to expect from Albarn.

With Damon and Paul joining John Kennedy to talk through the album they explained their origin and where the concept of the album originated. [listen]

Read highlights below and hit [listen] links to hear Damon and Paul's commentary in full. 

'History Song'
"It stems from a book I was reading about the history of London and it explained where the term 'Hangers On' came from..something I felt was quite relevant." [listen]

'80's Life'
"In it's original Nigerian version it sounded a little bit like The Lion King.." [listen]

'Northern Whale'
"Partly based on the whale swimming up the Thames and partly a personal moment from Damon.." [listen]

'Kingdom Of Doom'
"It's a cheery outlook on the fact we are all living in the kingdom of doom.." [listen]

'Herculean'
"It all comes out of Kensal Rise cemetery this one.." [listen]

'Behind The Sun'
"Ths is the one track that hardly changed from when we originally recorded it in Lagos." [listen]

'The Bunting Song'
"You know that song 'Tie Your Yellow Ribbon Around The Old Oak Tree'?..well it's like a mystical verison of that.." [listen]

'Nature's Springs'
"Its about madness." [listen]

'A Soldier's Tale'
"To play it musically it's like treading on eggs..the most delicate song on the record." [listen]

'Three Changes'
"It's very close to the Kingdom Of Doom.." [listen]

'Green Fields'
"One of the few songs i've written that speaks for itself." [listen]

'The Good, The Bad & The Green'
"We wanted to make a record that introduced Tony's sensibilties to everyone.." [listen]

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