Damon Albarn was filling in for BBC Radio 2 presenter Dermot O’Leary recently when he took the opportunity to spin the previously unreleased Gorillaz track Whirlwind, a short orchestral piece recorded during the Plastic Beach sessions with the Syrian National Orchestra.
Gorillaz played what must have been a pretty amazing show at an 11th century royal palace in Damascus with the Syrian National Orchestra during the 2010 Plastic Beach tour (the one that brought the cartoon band to Australia for the first and only time), and the new track was dedicated to members of the Orchestra whom Albarn has “reportedly lost contact with since the recent Syrian crisis began.”
Albarn put the Gorillaz to bed last year, admitting in an interview with The Guardian that new music was unlikely, as a feud developed between him and artistic collaborator on the project Jamie Hewlitt. Having said that, in the same interview he concluded that he wouldn’t be able to get back together with Blur, and they’ll be headlining the Big Day Out next year, so there’s always hope.
Via fasterlouder
