Blur frontman Damon Albarn will release his first-ever solo project under the moniker Gorillaz this April, according to his U.K. record label, Parlophone. The animated trip-hop group -- a collaboration with U.S. hip-hop producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura -- promises to be drastically different from the Brit pop creations of Albarn's primary group.

Focused around Albarn in the role of "2D," a vocalist plagued by migraine headaches, and featuring the imaginary "Noodle," a ten-year-old Japanese guitarist who Federal Expresses herself to the band, Gorillaz recorded their full-length album in Jamaica during Blur's 2000 hiatus. The record also features guest performances from American rapper Del Tha Funky Homosapien and seventy-something Cuban crooner Ibrahim Ferrer. Having recently dropped their U.K.-only debut EP, Tomorrow Comes Today, Albarn and Nakamura's cartoon band plans to release their eponymous long-player internationally on April 24th.

Albarn and Nakamura first collaborated on Dan The Automator's 2000 single "Deltron 30/30." Nakamura is also known for his production on the 1996 Dr. Octagon album, Dr. Octagonecologyst. He also engineered Prince Paul's 1997 set Psychoanalysis: What Is It? and more recently, "Pills", an extract from Primal Scream's recent Exterminator.

Meanwhile, Blur are slated to begin work on a new studio disc this spring. Fans will be happy to learn that Albarn has said that he intends to go back to the songwriting aesthetic achieved on their smash 1994 album Parklife.

JOHN D. LUERSSEN
(January 23, 2001)