album

GO to Dungeon Lane today and it’s strange to think it occupies a special place in Paul McCartney’s heart.

Yet it will go down in pop history alongside other street names associated with him, joining Penny Lane and Abbey Road.

Situated in the Speke neighbourhood of Liverpool, the L24 postal district, a faded road sign sets the tone for its desolate air.

It is bordered on one side by a solar farm business and, on the other, by a fenced-off area of scrubland which separates it from the city’s John Lennon Airport.

Before you get very far, a bright yellow “emergency access gate” bars further exploration.

But, as a child, Dungeon Lane was McCartney’s gateway to a stunning rural idyll where he could escape the hustle and bustle of urban life.

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In the Fifties, the lane took him past a daffodil farm to the Oglet Shore on the widest stretch of the River Mersey.

I wonder if young Paul, a keen birdwatcher, ventured into this wilderness clutching his trusty The Observer’s Book Of Birds.

There, he may have spotted any number of waders — curlew, snipe, dunlin, black-tailed godwits.

What we do know is that his lifelong love of our feathered friends began in those days.

This helps explain the compositions dotted through his career such as Blackbird with The Beatles, Single Pigeon with Wings, Two Magpies with The Fireman and solo efforts Jenny Wren and Long Tailed Winter Bird.

To McCartney, his early rambles into the countryside represent humbler, simpler times before The Fab Four exploded on to the scene, before his storied life in the dazzling glare of publicity.

Sir Paul, 83, has called his 19th solo album The Boys Of Dungeon Lane . . . which is, as he suggests, a trip down memory lane.

He got the title from the lyrics of its first single, Days We Left Behind, released yesterday, a nostalgia-filled acceptance that he has a far longer past than future.

Intimate, beautifully sung with Macca playing acoustic guitar, bass, piano and harmonium himself (how does he do that!?), it is the first taste of a project that has been five years in the making.

“This is very much a memory song for me,” he says. “I was thinking about just that . . . the days I left behind.

“And I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past — but then I think, how can you write about anything else?”

For McCartney, the song conjures up “a lot of memories of Liverpool. It involves a bit in the middle about John [Lennon] and Forthlin Road which is the street I used to live in. Dungeon Lane is near there.”

Paul was born on June 18, 1942, to his midwife mother Mary and salesman father Jim, and they moved with younger brother Mike to 20, Forthlin Road, Allerton, in the mid-Fifties from Speke, where they had lived since 1947.

We also know that Paul first bumped into John on July 6, 1957, at roughly 4pm, at a garden fete behind St Peter’s Church, Woolton.

In Days We Left Behind, he sings of the bond he formed with the lanky lad 20 months older than him: “We met at Forthlin Road/And wrote a secret code/To never be spoken.”

Continuing his reflection on the song, he says: “I used to live in a place called Speke which is quite working class.

“We didn’t have much at all but it didn’t matter because all the people were great and you didn’t notice you didn’t have much.”

As already mentioned, birdwatching was a hobby, one that required little cash and gave him a lot of pleasure “in the nearby woods and fields”.

A recent entry in Macca’s Spotify playlists, under the banner Sticking Out Of My Back Pocket, came accompanied by these musings . . .

“My mum had the midwife’s house on the edge of Liverpool, where we lived,” he says.

“It was where Liverpool just stopped and became deep countryside, so that was when I had the opportunity to do quite a bit of birdwatching.”

He particularly cherishes the moment he saw a “skylark rising into the sky, singing its sweet song”.

That unforgettable sight has found its way into Days We Left Behind, with its lines, “In the skies the skylarks rise/Above the sounds of war/Since that day I knew they’d stay/With me for evermore.”

All these decades later, he reflects: “And now because I live part-time on a farm [in Sussex], I’m able to see a lot of birds and I don’t need The Observer’s Book Of Birds quite so much as I did back then.”

McCartney’s new album promises to be one of the most personal, most autobiographical song cycles he’s ever recorded, while also finding room for up-to-date love songs dedicated to third wife Nancy.

Yesterday’s announcement states that it finds him in a “candid, vulnerable and deeply reflective mood, writing with rare openness about his childhood in post-war Liverpool, the resilience of his parents, and early adventures shared with George Harrison and John Lennon”.

I’m guessing here but songs yet to be heard, Momma Gets By and Salesman Saint, appear to be affectionate remembrances of mum Mary, who died when Paul was just 14, and dad Jim.

This is not the first time Macca has delved into his early years for songwriting inspiration.

I talked to him about the playful On My Way To Work, which appeared on his 2013 album, New.

He called it a “collection of memories all morphed together”, providing a fascinating glimpse into his life before Beatlemania.

“It’s about me going to my first job, before The Beatles took off, which was working on a lorry for a delivery company called Speedy Prompt Deliveries — SPD.”

McCartney described going to work on the council-run green and cream buses which led to him looking at risqué magazines like Parade.

“I’d go on the bus at some unearthly hour of the morning,” he said. “I might buy a magazine and look at the nudies. I was too young to be interested in the news!”

He remembered how hard-up kids like him ripped the fronts off cigarette packets and traded duplicates with their mates, instead of collecting “football cards or, like in America, baseball cards”.

“It was like, ‘I’ll swap you two Craven A for a Woodbine’. Then there were the posh brands because this bus route went from the centre of Liverpool to the outskirts.

“Posh people would be smoking Passing Clouds or Sobranies and packets of those were very prized.”

Another song, Queenie Eye, referenced a childhood street game from “1940s Britain”.

“It’s what we used to get up to before video games and that whole home entertainment thing,” he said.

“Someone would be elected to be ‘the one’ or the ‘queenie eye’. We’d all stand behind that person and he would throw a ball over his head and one of us would catch it and hide.

“Then we would all chant, ‘Queenie eye, queenie eye, who’s got the ball? I haven’t got it. It isn’t in my pocket!’ It was simple entertainment for simple minds but great fun.”

Now it is time to return to the 2020s and the creation of The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, the follow-up to his captivating lockdown album, McCartney III.

This time, we’re told we can expect “Wings-style rock, Beatles- style harmonies and McCartney-style grooves”.

The process began around five years ago when Macca met American live-wire producer Andrew Watt, known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne, Lady Gaga, Post Malone and The Beatles’ greatest Sixties chart rivals, the Rolling Stones.

Watt, I gather, “pulled a guitar” on his latest rock icon, who instantly happened upon a chord he didn’t recognise.

As the story goes, the ever- experimental McCartney changed one note, then another, until he had a three-chord sequence.

That led to his new record’s opening track, As You Lie There, which in turn set the ball rolling for the other 13 songs.

It’s remarkable that, as with McCartney III, he is credited with playing all the instruments himself across the whole thing.

It brings to mind how at ease this enduring music obsessive seemed as he suggested specific drum beats and fills to Ringo Starr in The Beatles’ Get Back documentary.

With Macca still touring and playing momentous shows like his 2022 Glastonbury epic, Days We Left Behind has been honed over half a decade when time permitted.

During that period, he even managed to introduce the Stones to producer Watt, who helmed their 2023 comeback album, Hackney Diamonds.

When McCartney was in Los Angeles working with Watt, he was brought in to play bass on Mick Jagger and Co’s punk blast, Bite My Head Off.

Upon its release, I spoke to Keith Richards who was made up over their special guest.

“Yeah, Macca just strolled in with his bass,” the guitar legend drawled. “I think the song reminded him of those times [in the Sixties]. Beatlemania was equally as bizarre as Stones mania.”

There’s a moment towards the end of Bite My Head Off where you can hear someone saying, “Come on Paul, play something”.

“That might have been me,” smiled Richards.

But this is all about Britain’s greatest living songwriter, Paul McCartney, and his new album The Boys Of Dungeon Lane.

Time is precious but when it comes to music and life, he’s still facing forward at 83 — even if he’s remembering a youth long ago when “in the skies, the skylarks rise”.

Mexico’s reigning pop princess is entering her femme fatale era.

Kenia Os played up her cute and cuddly side in her previous album, 2024’s “Pink Aura” — but with her upcoming album “K de Karma,” out Friday, Os is putting that era to bed.

Os, born Kenia Guadalupe Flores Osuna in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, has made an incredible leap from social media influencer to Latin Grammy-nominated pop star in under a decade. Yet at 26, she has weathered countless storms — whether facing incessant body-shaming online, or defending her pop music pivot from cynics in the comments.

In an interview with the L.A. Times, the Mexican superstar explains how she transmuted that energy into her most fierce and sexy musical offering yet.

“In that darkness, I found myself,” the 26-year-old says over Zoom from her hotel room in Los Angeles — where she’s traded her signature blood red dress for a black tank top and jeans as she prepares for her upcoming tour.

“This album is totally about empowerment. There’s an energy behind it of divine justice… What’s for you belongs to you.”

Os had plenty of examples of powerful pop divas to draw inspiration from. Though she fondly recalls her mother playing the music of the late Selena Quintanilla and Jenni Rivera, Os was tapped into American talents like Miley Cyrus — namely her “Hannah Montana” alter ego — as well as Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez.

“I’ve always been inspired by a lot of female artists,” she recalls. “The power that women wield has always been at the core of who I am an artist.”

As Os looks back on being a teen girl who shared her life gratuitously on YouTube, and later social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, she still feels the sting of body-shaming comments. Os reveals during that time, her weight would fluctuate from dealing with hormonal issues such as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and endometriosis.

“It’s very difficult how people judge you for your body, if you gain weight, have a tummy, or whatever,” she says. “It was very complicated to grow from a young girl into a woman [in a world] where you are how you look. Currently, I feel at ease because thanks to the universe, I’ve had the opportunity to take care of my body, understand it, and heal from within. It’s made me a stronger woman.”

Another hurdle that Os had to overcome in her career is an ongoing stigma placed on influencers-turned-pop stars. Although artists like Addison Rae, Tate McRae, and Charli D’Amelio successfully forged their careers as performers on social media before taking center stage, Os sees Mexico as being less receptive to that kind of career transition as the U.S. or Canada.

“In Mexico, it hasn’t been that easy for people to understand that I am a singer,” she says. “I’m not the best, but I’m here, I have my fandom that I love and we’re doing incredible things together.” (Os is referring to her massive following online, which includes 26.3 million fans on TikTok and 18.2 million fans on Instagram.)

When Os first launched as a singer in 2018, some immediately took aim at her dance moves and the digitally augmented sound of her voice. Os admits that she’s come a long way since that first iteration with rigorous singing and choreography lessons; three years later, she signed a record deal with her current label Sony Music Mexico, and released her glossy debut album, “Cambios De Luna,” in 2022.

Since then, Os has come to rule the Latin pop scene in Mexico, boasting multiple sold-out tours of the country.

“It’s been difficult for people to understand that I started out making content — which I still love to do — and suddenly, I’m [also] a singer,” she says. “They try to devalue my work and what I do as an artist. At the end of the day, I’m still as hard-working as I [was] on day one. I’m on the charts with a lot of artists. I’ve put myself in a position where I can say that I’m fully dedicated to music. For me, it’s been a beautiful journey where I’ve learned a lot about myself and I’ve grown so much.”

Os achieved an international breakthrough with her visual album, 2022’s “K23.” The following year she scored a viral hit on TikTok with the flirty “Malas Decisiones,” which has over 340 million streams on Spotify. Os would soon tour the U.S. for the first time, and at the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards, “K23” was nominated in the category of long form music video.

“I loved that experience, and I believe it would be beautiful to win a Grammy, but now I’m more dedicated to my fans, my music and what I like without expecting an award,” she says.

Last year, Os also pulled a page from Taylor Swift’s playbook by releasing the concert film “Kenia Os: La OG” in theaters in both the U.S. and Mexico.

Now with “K De Karma” out, Os is finding strength in further harnessing a sexier and more defiant alter ego — which she introduced in her cinematic music video for “Belladona.” Directed by Daniel Eguren, the visuals emphasize the fatality of her femininity with a car explosion and suited-up businessmen bending to her will.

“It doesn’t feel like that I have to act or pretend to be sexy or sensual,” Os admits. “Now, this feels very natural. It feels very me. This is who I am at this moment as a woman.”

She adds that her album was also inspired by a marginalized group that stuck by her side through her ups and downs: the LGBTQ+ community. As a show of gratitude to the girls and the gays, Os transforms from “Belladona” to Primadonna in vogue-ready house bangers like “Slay,” “Problemática,” and “Boom In Your Face.”

“I wanted to do something fun and different for the LGBTQ+ community,” she says. “I’m very happy and grateful for the love they’ve given me. I believe they’re my most passionate fans — they’re the kind of fans that are there for you the most. To put on concerts where you know most of the crowd belongs to that community, it’s an incredible experience.”

A surprising collaborator on “K De Karma” is Mexican singer-songwriter Carla Morrison. She co-wrote the tender love song “Tú y Yo X Siempre” with Os; the two also collaborated on “Días Tristes,” which is reminiscent of the moody ‘80s pop anthem by Jeanette, “El Muchacho De Los Ojos Tristes.”

Os reveals that she and Morrison worked on a third song that they’re still putting the finishing touches on. “It was very magical to work with her,” she adds. “She’s an exceptional and incredible human being with a big heart. She told me very beautiful words that motivated me all of last year. Those were words that I needed to hear.”

On the personal side, Os is also relishing her relationship with Peso Pluma. After collaborating on the reggaeton track “Tommy & Pamela” in 2024, the two Mexican artists went public as an item last year. Os has even accompanied Pluma on a few stops of his recent Dinastía Tour.

“It’s very beautiful to know that you have a partner that knows what you go through and that can give you advice from his experiences as well,” Os says. “I love that I can count on someone that understands me completely and supports me.”

As for now, she is raring for the Mexican leg of her “K de Karma Tour” that kicks off on April 25 in her hometown. She is hoping to eventually add some dates in the States.

“I want to grow more internationally with this album,” says Os. “As long as my fans love and enjoy this album, that’s all that matters to me.”

Inara George looks back on it now as wistfully as someone remembering a love affair or a semester abroad.

“It was at this tiny theater on Pico near LaBrea, next to a barbecue place,” she says. “Our backstage was behind the theater, so we’d sit out there wearing these crazy corseted outfits while the guy next door was smoking brisket.”

A fixture of the Los Angeles music scene known for her solo records and as half of the Bird and the Bee, George is recalling the summer she spent working as a 20-something actor in “The Wandering Whore,” a musical set in 18th century London by composer Eliot Douglass and lyricist Philip Littell that played L.A.’s Playwrights’ Arena in August 1997.

“There was a scene where I die,” George adds, “and then I get reanimated by a ghost and someone pays — I don’t know if you need to put this in the article — someone pays to have relations with me.” She sighs.

“It was just such a rich time.”

Three decades later, George’s warm feelings for that era — and especially for the duo who soundtracked it — have led to an exquisite new album, “Songs of Douglass & Littell,” on which she sets aside her own songwriting to interpret nine tunes by these under-the-radar veterans of West Coast musical theater: searching, funny, vividly emotional songs like “Tired Butterfly,” about a busy insect in search of “a little nap,” and “The Extra Nipple,” which ponders a “harsh encounter with another heart.”

Think of the record as George’s take on one of Ella Fitzgerald’s classic “Song Book” LPs from the late ’50s and early ’60s, when the jazz star was systematically enshrining the work of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and other authors of the Great American Songbook.

“These men deserve to have some attention,” George says of Douglass and Littell, the latter of whom she’s known since she was a little girl performing in plays at Topanga Canyon’s Theatricum Botanicum. “I want to give them their flowers.”

Yet if the album is rooted in the creative awakenings of George’s youth, it’s also the 51-year-old’s way of embracing middle age.

Inspired by singers like Helen Merrill and Chet Baker — “Elis & Tom,” a 1974 duo album by Brazil’s Elis Regina and Antônio Carlos Jobim, was another touchstone — George turns on “Songs” from the Bird and the Bee’s blippy electronica and the folky pop of her solo work to a jazzier sound that puts her cool, breathy vocals amid piano, strings and horns.

“This is a grown-up record,” says George, who shares three teenage children with her husband, the movie director Jake Kasdan. “I don’t want to be making music that makes me feel like I’m trying to be younger — I wanted to make something that makes me feel my age.”

Inara George at home this month.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The singer is at home near Griffith Park on a recent afternoon; with her kids at school and Kasdan away on a film shoot, the house is quiet, though signs of music are everywhere: a drum set, a grand piano, a guitar once owned by George’s late father, Lowell George, who founded the cult-fave L.A. rock band Little Feat and who died of a heart attack when Inara was only 4.

“As a woman, it’s a weird time in life — there’s something in-between about it,” she says. “Even the question of what do you wear. When you’re younger, you’re like, I’m gonna wear a dress — is it sexy, is it cute? Now, all of a sudden, all I want to do is wear suits.” She laughs.

Douglass, who plays piano on the new album, hears a “groundedness” in George’s singing all the more remarkable given that the arrangements represent “a new kind of school for her,” he says. “I was wondering how she would approach it, and she’s done it with such aplomb and wisdom.”

On Friday night, Douglass will accompany George — along with more than a dozen other players — in a record-release concert at Largo at the Coronet, with proceeds going to the nonprofit LA Voice, which seeks to organize voters on issues related to immigration and affordable housing.

George happily describes “Songs of Douglass & Littell” as a passion project. “I think you get to a certain point where selling a million records is not your intention,” she says. “Obviously, I wouldn’t make a record like this if I had that intention.” (Counterpoint: the arena-filling success of Laufey.)

“I’m just about the experience,” she adds, “and this has been an amazing experience.”

The experience began one night a few years ago when George hosted a wine-soaked reunion of performers who’d worked with Douglass and Littell back in the ’90s on shows like “The Wandering Whore” and “No Miracle: A Consolation,” the latter a song cycle rooted in the losses of the AIDS epidemic.

Philip Littell, from left, Eliot Douglass and Inara George.

(Thomas Heegard)

After her years of childhood dramatics at the Theatricum — Littell remembers meeting “this bird of a girl with these huge eyes” — George had gone to Boston’s Emerson College to study acting but dropped out and returned to L.A., where she eventually made her name as a musician. (In addition to the Bird and the Bee, her duo with the Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin, she’s also played with the Living Sisters and sung with Foo Fighters.)

Yet her postcollege stint in the experimental theater scene always stuck with her, she says. Reconnecting with Littell, whose other work includes the libretto for André Previn’s operatic adaptation of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and Douglass, who played piano for years with Cirque du Soleil, got George thinking about how she might help preserve their music and bring it to a modern audience.

In 2024, she put together a trio for an intimate gig at Pasadena’s Healing Force of the Universe record store; her old friend Mike Andrews, who produced her solo albums, was there and told her they should record the material. Given the number of ballads she’d worked up, George asked Douglass and Littell to write a couple of new uptempo tunes; among the ones they came up with was the frisky “La Lune S’en Va.”

Does George speak French?

“Not at all,” she says, smiling. “But Philip does. It’s so fun — I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it.’ I think the pronunciation’s OK.”

She and a small crew of musicians cut the album live in the studio over three days — in part an attempt to capture some energy, in part an acknowledgment of an economic reality.

“Is music just a hobby for me now? Yeah, it is,” says George, who’s putting “Songs” out through her own label, Release Me Records. “I mean, I’m spending money to do it.” She worries about the disappearance of music’s middle class even as she notes happily that “Again & Again” by the Bird and the Bee “recently had a little TikTok moment,” as she puts it. (With 86 million streams, it’s the duo’s most popular track on Spotify, followed by an ethereal cover of the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love.”)

Yet all that seems less important to George than taking the opportunity to honor “these incredibly talented, very sensitive people” who she says shaped the artist she became.

“Their songs just mean so much to me,” she says of Douglass and Littell. “More than ever, this is the music I want to listen to.”

Argentina’s spunkiest duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso have checked themselves into a wellness center for their latest album, “Free Spirits.”

Out Thursday, the LP pushes the limits of the duo’s experimentation, combining unpredictable blends of trap, rock and pop while still maintaining their raunchy sense of humor and musicianship. The 12-track project features collaborations with British musicians Sting and Fred Again, as well as California’s very own Anderson .Paak and Jack Black.

It’s been a busy year for the avant-garde pair, who won their first Grammy in February for their nine-track EP, “Papota.”

At the ceremony, they hinted at a rebrand for the upcoming album; both appearing on the red carpet wearing matching tan robes — a look far less flashy than the custom Versace outfits they wore at the Latin Grammys in November.

“We are trying to heal that velocity that we had in the past year. If you go so fast, you’re going to crash,” Paco Amoroso told Billboard in February. “We are healing ourselves now.”

Following their Tiny Desk performance in Oct. 2024 — which has reached over 27 million views to date — the Buenos Aires singers have etched an unpredictable, kooky path in the crazed music industry, often by criticizing it.

First, their 2025 EP “Papota” humorized their rapid ascent to stardom and poked fun at how artists must dilute their image to fit the mainstream.

Now through their LP “Free Spirits,” they continue to comment on the trope of the burned-out, exhausted artist who through a soul-stripping retreat can find renewal once again.

That purported healing is taking place at “Free Spirits Wellness Center,” a mock-up clinic led by Sting dedicated to advance physiological and cognitive expansion for people working under intense pressure.

In a music video released Wednesday, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso checked themselves in after taking home five gramophone trophies at the 26th Latin Grammys.

Among the 12-step treatments are skin-changing artotherapy, where patients endure a painful micro-needling session combined with a non-goal-oriented painting session; cryo cerebral rebirth, where the brain regresses to its early developmental stages; and temperature contrast celibation, where they receive an ice bath combined with sexual arousal restrain.

None of these treatments make clear sense — mainly because they aren’t real — but that’s exactly Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso’s point: Fame is all make-believe pandemonium and there is no real recovery from it.

ALFIE Boe – one of the nation’s favourite tenors – will be unleashing his inner rock god on new album Face Myself.

The record, out on April 10, is inspired by his love of the Madchester era and was produced by Myriot, who previously worked with Primal Scream.

In an exclusive chat, Alfie revealed the album’s title track pays tribute to late Stone Roses bass player Gary “Mani” Mounfield.

The classical singer said he spent his weekends travelling up to Manchester as a teenager to immerse himself in the music scene, where the Stone Roses launched hits such as I Wanna Be Adored. Alfie said: “At the time I was writing that song, Mani passed away.

“So I had to put a tribute in the song. I changed the lyrics to say, ‘For good old Mani, he played it right’.”

The high-energy track, which is released today, also name checks Liam and Noel Gallagher’s childhood home on Cranwell Drive and celebrates the Madchester spirit.

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On the track he sings: “Dreams are grown in Burnage sky, a golden past that made us cry.

“The prom is glorified with lights, for good old Mani, he played it right. Those Cranwell boys, they sang along.”

As a teen, Alfie, who has clocked up 12 Top Ten albums including four No1s, joined an indie band and later found himself exploring classical music.

“I was in an indie band called The English Roses,” Alfie said with a laugh. We were going to go on tour and I was going to be the drummer. But there was school to attend, which was fine, but then I joined lots of other little bands.”

Alfie’s new album is made up of mostly original material and he was inspired to start writing by his pal, The Who’s Pete Townshend.

And the Les Miserables stage fave says the record is all about facing his past, adding: “I thought, what is it about me I have to face?

“It was my childhood, my teenage years, and what got me to where I am today. It’s been a wonderful journey.”

Dua’s full of beans

Dua Lipa has a hefty cheque coming her way, plus a lifetime’s supply of coffee I imagine.

She’s signed up to be global ambassador for Nespresso and posed in blue co-ords to promote the new tie-in. Dua also had a snap with George Clooney, long-time face of the brand.

Greg heading to £2m…but pleads for Wills’ help again

Greg James continues his mammoth 1,000km cycle ride for Comic Relief after getting the royal seal of approval from Prince William.

He was given a boost on Tuesday, when the Prince of Wales hopped on the back of the Radio 1 DJ’s tandem.

As I caught up with Greg yesterday from the Yorkshire Moors, he said he wished William had stuck around.

Greg, resting up on a wall, below, said with a laugh: “I could’ve done with his legs today. Wills, if you’re reading this, help.”

He has remained incredibly upbeat despite the physical and mental toll the challenge is taking.

And he has been buoyed by the incredible donations from the public, which last night was creeping towards the £2million mark. Greg, who set off from Dorset last Friday and is pedalling all the way to Edinburgh, said: “The hills are very, very difficult today.

“But there was a really nice crowd of people shouting at me at the top.

“The good news is we’ve raised over £1.5million, which is an absurd amount. I’d be happy with that if it was the final total but we’ve got three days left.”

He starts his ride from Sunderland this morning with two full days to go.

Tomorrow he will begin his final push, cycling from Galashiels in the Borders to Edinburgh, where he is set to arrive in time for Comic Relief to start on BBC One at 7pm. You can do this, Greg!

Go to comicrelief.com/ride to make a donation.

Placebo are making a comeback for the 30th anniversary of their debut album, which they have reworked into a new version.

Placebo re:created will be out on June 19.

They will then kick off a European tour this September playing songs from their first two albums, with dates in Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff in November and December.

Big cat in Africa

Doja Cat showed her wild side in clashing animal prints while on stage in Rwanda.

The Say So rapper, who wore a blue wig with a tiger-striped bodysuit, was performing at Global Citizen’s Move Afrika concert.

She sounded great, despite her carefree lifestyle.

In a new interview with Vogue yesterday, Doja admitted she’s had to curb bad habits for the sake of her live shows.

She said: “I love trash – I’m Oscar the Grouch. I love to eat garbage, and I love to drink, and I love to party.

“Not too hard, obviously. I don’t do any drugs.”

Doja, who had a romance with actor Joseph Quinn in 2024, went on to reveal she is a serial dater, adding: “I’m 30, so I’m ovulating and horny.”

At least she tells it how it is.

Mosh-pit memories with trust

The Teenage Cancer Trust is staging a photo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall to mark the joys of mosh pits.

Musicians including Yungblud, Wolf Alice, Fontaines DC and The Sex Pistols ft Frank Carter are featured in the show, called Good Energy.

It highlights “good energy”, which is the code used by fans to look after each other in the crowd. Frank said of his pic: “It was taken in the Royal Albert Hall.

“To play there with the Sex Pistols was a dream come true. Seeing a mosh pit inside such a venue felt like the definition of Good Punk Energy.

The exhibition runs until April 9. Buy signed copies of the prints at teenagecancer trust.org/good.

One direction’s Louis Tomlinson confessed the band’s debut No1 single, What Makes You Beautiful, was his least favourite track. He told Scott Mills’s Radio 2 show: “Performing it was always really eggy.”

Louis also took aim at the handling of 1D’s split, adding: “Hiatus, what a horrible word. It’s cringey, screams management.”

Princess is really made up

Harper Beckham has competition from another nepo baby when it comes to her upcoming beauty brand – Katie Price and Peter Andre’s daughter Princess.

The Sun told last week that Harper had taken part in a photoshoot for beauty brand Hiku by Harper, which is expected to launch in the coming months. Now Princess is following suit.

She said on the Not My Bagg podcast: “I’ve been working on it for ages. I was in Liverpool three days ago.

“I went up for a photoshoot for my beauty brand, which is so good. It’s being released this year.

I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to be involved in some sort of business. Make-up, I love, so it had to be that.”

HARRY STYLES has reason for plenty more disco dancing after scoring the biggest opening week of sales for a UK artist since Adele four years ago.

He released his album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally on Friday and I can reveal he sold 125,000 copies in the UK in the first two days alone.

The massive figure means he has already eclipsed the first week sales of his last album Harry’s House, which sold 113k copies in seven days in 2022.

It’s likely to be the third fastest selling British album of the last decade and the biggest since Adele’s 30 which shifted 261k in its first week in 2021.

Over on the singles chart, he looks set to occupy all three top spots with American Girls currently in the lead at No1, followed by former chart topper Aperture at No2 and Ready, Steady, Go! at No3.

And the figures globally are massive too, as Harry scored the biggest album debut of 2026 on Spotify worldwide with 63million streams on Friday.

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The killer news comes after former One Direction star Harry smashed his One Night Only performance in Manchester’s Co-op Live on Friday night.

Fans who didn’t manage to get their hands on the £20 tickets, which were sold in a ballot, can now watch the show back on Netflix after it premiered on there last night.

Following the gig, Harry flew to the US to be in the audience for Saturday Night Live, where he will perform and host the show this weekend.

Chatting with Ryan Gosling, who was in the hot seat, Harry, who previously hosted and sang during an episode in 2019, said: “It’s been awhile, so I wanted to watch, get a feel for it.”

Insiders said the stripped back set, which saw Harry performing his new album from start to finish, will be ramped up for his upcoming 12 Wembley Stadium shows.

A source said: “Harry is celebrating this new era with an incredible stage set up.

“His team are building an epic set for the Wembley residency. Because he’s not moving around, they can really go to town.

“There will be enormous big screens and likely fireworks at the end of the shows.

“Harry gave his fans a taste of what is to come from the shows during the Brit Awards when he did an amazing choreographed routine as he sang Aperture.

“These shows are going down in history.”

I was lucky enough to be in Manchester’s Co-op Live to see Harry in action on Friday night and can confirm this album sounds incredible live.

His decision to lock away camera phones was masterful, as I could see the 20,000-odd fans properly connecting with his music – rather than watching him through an iPhone screen.

I think Harry should keep the ban in place when it comes to his Wembley shows, which kick off on June 12.

Enjoying music in the moment is the best feeling in the world — and Harry has reminded everyone, myself included, of that.

LIZZO is back and she’s riding higher than ever.

The About Damn Time singer headlined the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Black Heritage Night six years after her performance there was cancelled because of Covid.

And she made up for lost time and entered the ring to the sounds of the Texas Southern University Ocean of Soul marching band playing Chamillionaire’s 2005 hit Ridin.

During her set, Lizzo whisked punters through her hits including Truth Hurts and Good As Hell and gave fans a thrill as she pulled out her flute to play the melody of Houston native, American rapper Mike Jones’s song Still Tippin’.

Speaking after her set, Lizzo said: “You have no idea how much this night means to me.

“This night will forever change my life.”

I’m a massive fan of Lizzo’s and last saw her on stage at Glastonbury back in 2023.

Please can she come back soon?

LOLA AND JAMES ON TRACK

LOLA YOUNG is showing no signs of slowing down.

Just last week she performed a near sell-out show at the London Palladium and now I can reveal she’s back in the studio.

Insiders tell me Lola has been getting to work with James Blake with the pair recording after a chance meeting last year.

A source said: “James and Lola have been in the studio working on a few songs and hopefully at least one of the tracks will end up on her next album.”

After being forced to cancel her tour last year to focus on her health, Lola has also announced she will play Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and London in June.

It’s great to see her back.

Rita’s got our hearts racing

RITA ORA isn’t a woman who does things by halves.

And when she performed at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over the weekend she dressed up like a chequered flag.

Rita teamed her black and white jacket with a pair of tiny black pants and stockings for her performance, which saw her singing some of her biggest hits – including her 2012 breakout song Hot Right Now.

Over the weekend, Basement Jaxx also performed a headline set at the race – which was won by British racing driver George Russell – with DJ Duke Dumont putting on the final show last night with an epic turn on the decks.

BOY GEORGE is to appear on Eurovision – but will be representing San Marino instead of the United Kingdom.

The Culture Club legend will feature on the tune Superstar, performed by Italian singer Senhit, who has qualified for the tiny nation.

He didn’t appear at the regional selection event on Friday night, in which Senhit won her place, but I’m told he does intend to be on stage in Vienna at the contest in May.

She previously represented San Marino in 2021 with the track Adrenalina, which had another famous feature, as American rapper Flo Rida joined her on stage.

Despite the special guest that year she finished 22 out of 26, so Boy George will be hoping to improve on that.

But given the UK came 19th last that year, perhaps George has the right idea singing for somebody else.

LADY GAGA has hinted she will marry fiancé Michael Polansky any day now.

Gaga, whose tour ends in the US on April 13, sent a note into pal Bruno Mars’s iHeartRadio livestream.

She said: “Me and my fiancé have been travelling all year, but we’re getting married soon. We were hoping you could choose a special song for us.”

TRAITOR ALAN SAYS TOO MUCH

ALAN CARR has called his upcoming comedy tour, Have I Said Too Much, and I can confirm he has.

But it’s bloody hilarious. During a small gig at the Soho Theatre in London on Saturday night, he took pops at his Celebrity Traitors co-stars – and had the crowd in stitches.

Alan said: “Wasn’t I good in The Traitors? Was I good or were the other celebrities just s**t?

“They were thick as mince and as stupid. When I laughed in their face and said: ‘I’m a faithful,’ I went home and packed.

“What more could I have done? I could have come down in that cloak with the severed head of CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN and they still would have gone: ‘I think it’s JOE MARLER.’”

Alan added: “Do you think I killed Paloma Faith first? No – I killed Clare Balding. We shoved her in the coffin but could not get the lid down because of that quiff.”

DR CALL FOR MUSO PETE

HE went from playing foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It to becoming Doctor Who, and then trying his hand at music.

And after his second album, Sweet Illusions, was released last year, I’m told Peter Capaldi is already lining up his third record.

Peter worked with Blow Monkeys frontman Dr. Robert for album two and now they’re teaming up again, following the end of Peter’s debut run of headline shows.

A source said: “Peter finished his final show at the 100 Club in London last night, and the plan is to get back into a studio and lay down some new tracks.

“He has been blown away by the response to his first ever live shows with his band, and he already has a host of tracks for a new record.

“More than anything he finds making music fun.

“Peter doesn’t need to get to the top of the charts for this all to be a success for him.

“He would never have even recorded one track if it wasn’t for his friend Dr. Robert urging him to remember his student days as a punk and write some new songs.

“He trusts Dr. Robert and can’t wait to get to work with him again.”

Peter’s first foray into music was when he was at art college and he was the lead singer and guitarist in a punk rock band called the Dreamboys.

His biggest music moment so far came last year when Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos pulled Peter up on stage at Glastonbury to perform Take Me Out with them.

HARRY Styles recently dropped his new album, Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally, and fans have been in detective mode attempting to decode who his songs are about.

And they feel they’re worked some of the inspiration behind songs out, after decoding lyrics they describe as “heartbreaking”.

Harry’s new track Paint By Numbers sees him sing vulnerably, acknowledging a failed past relationship as well as the status of his own celebrity.

Among the difficulties of stardom and heartbreak, he’s reaching out for a glimpse of humanity.

He croons lyrics including: “It’s a little bit complicated when they put an image in your head, and now you’re stuck with it.”

But fans are convinced a later part of the song is directly reflecting on his relationship with former flame Olivia Wilde.

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The part goes: “Holding the weight of the American children whose hearts you break.

“Was it a tragedy when you told her, ‘I’m not even 33’?”

The couple shared a ten year age gap, which the reference to not even being in his 30s could be pointing towards.

Fans also took to X to decode whether another track on the album called Season 2 Weight Loss is about his past relationship with Kendall Jenner.

Harry dated the model on and off for years in a messy situationship.

So hearing lyrics like: “Do you love me now?” instantly sent fans typing.

One fan gushed in response to the possible link: “HARRY STYLES OH MY GOD,” followed by some sobbing face emojis.

Though later in the song Harry sings about “coming back as a stronger version” of himself, possibly referencing the end of the cycle of on-and-off dating.

The deciphering comes after Harry’s tour ticket sales encountered frustrating mishaps for fans.

In addition to being set to perform 12 shows in Wembley Stadium, Harry had one gig booked at Manchester‘s Co-op Live in due to play this month.

Though many fans woke up to find their tickets to the event cancelled and refunded.

Ticketmaster released a statement on the decision to axe the tickets, explaining that some customers managed to purchase tickets they shouldn’t have been able to buy in the first place.

These include many of the £20 tickets which were later resold on other ticket selling sites, and therefore were no longer eligible for use at the venue.

Ticketmaster explained: “We’re working with the Harry Styles ‘One Night Only’ team to cancel and refund any orders that have violated the rules of sale.

“As all tickets are non-transferable, any tickets listed on unauthorised resale sites are void and will not get fans into the show – so we’re cancelling and refunding these.

“There is also a ticket limit of 2 tickets per person, so any orders above that are being cancelled and refunded.”

The majority of the voided tickets appear to have been sold on Viagogo.

It’s a Wednesday afternoon in West Hollywood, one day after the city was blanketed in a light coating of rain. The midday sun has only just begun to peek through the overcast sky.

Its beams are slightly more vivid through the large windows of the Edition, which sit at the edge of a secluded area of the hotel. Jamie Hewlett sits at a wooden table stirring a cappucino with a black straw.

“I mean, who drinks out of a straw when you get past the age of 10, right?” he says, jokingly. After 25 years of bouncing around the globe with Gorillaz, he’s still longing for a jet lag cure. Coffee can only do so much.

Leaning back in his chair, in a suave, all-beige outfit, he starts to grin while recounting his day in Los Angeles.

“We’ve been walking around the streets having a very rare morning off together. We bought some weed, which is always one of the most wonderful things about this state,” he recalls.

He also finds humor in L.A.’s obsession with driver-less food delivery.

“Every time we saw a post-bot driving down the road, we stopped and doffed our caps. … In the future, when robots take over and destroy us all, they’ll remember me for being nice to the post-bot!”

It’s been a long few weeks for Hewlett and bandmate Damon Albarn as they roll out the group’s latest endeavor, “The Mountain,” out Friday. Just one day prior, “House of Kong” opened at Rolling Greens in downtown L.A. The exhibition, initially intended as a Gorillaz 25th anniversary event, has landed on the West Coast.

“I think with this album, we were both quite happy with what we’ve done … and feeling like it was an honest, genuine adventure that was taken, and what we’ve given is something that we’re proud of,” Hewlett says.

He and Albarn are also artists at heart and in nature. It’s why Gorillaz continues to look and sound the way it does, and why the group is consistently pushing the agenda of how a nonexistent band can still resonate with a group of fans who are very much alive.

“The process, the research, the putting it together, the making of it is really fun, and the delivery of it is kind of like a mini death syndrome,” he says. “What you’re required to do is get straight on to the next thing, and you won’t have any time to waste thinking about the fact that the completion of that left you feeling numb, because then you’re excited about the next project.”

He adds that Albarn, similarly, is like a “kid in a sweet shop” when he’s making music: “The moment it’s finished, there’s no interest in discussing it.”

Even so, the album is undeniably their most intimate in recent history.

Perhaps it’s something to do with the experience of grief that the two lived through, losing their fathers only 10 days apart and just before a trip to India. Or maybe it’s a testament to the process behind “The Mountain,” which saw Hewlett and Albarn travel the country, spending more time together there than during previous album productions.

“It’s weird, because I’m born 10 days after Damon… the idea presented itself, and at that point we were going down that road, and there was no avoiding it… It wasn’t even necessarily going to be a Gorillaz project; ‘Let’s go together and see what happens.’ ”

“I completely fell in love with the place and got into their whole concept of death,” Hewlett says of India.

(Blair Brown)

Hewlett says the album was also inspired by his late mother-in-law, Amo, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and opted for Eastern medicine instead of chemo.

“She said, ‘No, I’m going to India.’ … She was into Ayurveda medicine and knew this doctor, and she spent three months in India [being treated]. When she came back, her cancer had gone. In France, they call her in for a checkup, and they give her a scan. They say, ‘Where’s your cancer gone?’ She said, ‘I’ve been in India,’ and they say, ‘We don’t believe in that.’ ”

It wouldn’t be until 2022 when Jamie visited India himself, under unfortunate circumstances. He was in Belgrade with Albarn shooting the second video from “Cracker Island” when he received a call from his brother-in-law, who said that Amo had just had a stroke.

“They said they saved her, but she went into a coma. I was on a plane to India as quickly as I could get a visa, which wasn’t easy at the Indian Embassy in London,” he said. “I spent eight weeks with my wife, Emma, in Jaipur, dealing with that, in a public hospital during a pneumonia epidemic… having that experience that was traumatic; it should have been a reason for me to never go back to India ever again.”

But during his time there, it became clear that being in the country had the opposite effect on him.

“I completely fell in love with the place and got into their whole concept of death. … We met a lot of families who became friends of ours because we were at the hospital every day,” he continued.

“A loved one who was dying, who was in tears because they knew they were going to die, but also there was a celebration about the fact that they were coming back,” he said. “Their understanding of the cycle of life is a lot more appealing to me.”

Shortly after, Hewlett returned to Europe and went straight to Albarn with an idea: “I said, ‘We have to go to India, it’s so amazing,’ and of all the places he’d been around the world, that was the place he still hadn’t been. So we decided to go.”

Albarn first visited India in May 2024 alongside Hewlett.

(Blair Brown)

“The Mountain” is, as expected, heavily doused with notions on the concept of death. Inevitably, the question arose: “How can we make an album about death that would leave the listener feeling optimistic?”

But Gorillaz has always been a group entwined with different, equally heavy topics. On “Plastic Beach,” they tackle the climate crisis and human extinction. The enchanting and rhythmic “Dirty Harry” also examines war and soldiers, with its single cover even giving a nod to Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket.”

The tone Gorillaz achieved on “The Mountain” is an extension of that.

“The Happy Dictator,” released as the lead single in September, parodies megalomaniac Saparmurat Niyazov’s approach to governing in Turkmenistan. As Sparks produce stunning vocals, singing “I am the one to give you life again,” Gorillaz fictional frontman 2-D (voiced by Albarn) breaks in to pronounce, “No more bad news!”

Equally as enjoyable is “The God of Lying,” the third single released, featuring Idles. Joe Talbot hauntingly asks, “Do you love your blessed father? / Anoint by fear of death / Do you feel the lies creep on by? / As soft as baby’s breath.” It’s a bouncy song that could have been pulled straight out of the band’s self-titled debut, all the way back from 2001.

Even so, it feels criminal to compare it with the band’s earlier catalog, given that Hewlett and Albarn are artists in “perpetual motion.” This has resulted in some of their most sonically and visually impressive work — with styles and genres consistently shifting — but also asks the listener to be willing to evolve with them.

“I think art has to be an evolution,” Hewlett explains. “I know what David Hockney does at 88 years old, still smoking and drinking his red wine. He wakes up every day … and he does something new, and then the next day he does something new, and that promotes longevity. He’s never bored.”

Gorillaz’s exhibition in “House of Kong” seems to be contradictory in its existence, more or less serving as a retrospective from a band that not only doesn’t like to look in the rearview, but likely has it taped over altogether.

But it’s also an organic experience, teeming with originality, despite its familiar marketing as an “immersive experience.” It’s more comparable to something out of a Disney or Universal theme park than another gallery that merely projects video onto a wall.

“Down here at Kong, we are creating something that … only really existed in Jamie’s drawings and animations and in the minds of the fans of Gorillaz,” says Stephen Gallagher of Block9. He served as creative director on the project but has worked with the band since 2018 and previously collaborated with Banksy for his “The Walled Off Hotel” and “Dismaland.”

“I’d had this idea already: ‘What about if we built a film studio, and then you could do a backstage tour, and you’re seeing behind the scenes of the making of all of these music videos?’ ” he continued. “Then that evolved, and it became the ‘House of Kong.’ ”

As for why the exhibition landed in L.A. for its second showing, Hewlett compares the city to Shanghai when it was “still free and decadent and swinging.”

“I love L.A. … I love it. I’ve been coming here since I was 19 years old. … L.A. might be the last one [showing], to be honest,” he says. “All that stuff in the exhibition belongs to me; this is part of my lifelong collection of weird s—!”

“I’d love to get it back at some point,” he jokes.

THE musician and the visual artist . . . two lives shaped by shared experience and creative endeavour. 

Damon Albarn was born on March 23, 1968, and eleven days later, on April 3, his chief collaborator, Jamie Hewlett, came into the world. 

In 1998, after bonding while sharing a flat, they dreamed up virtual band Gorillaz, a vehicle for wild flights of imagination. 

Fronted by cartoon characters 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle, Gorillaz have blurred musical styles, crossed generations and involved numerous nationalities in their songs for more than 25 years. 

“We’re the Alan Whicker of bands,” declares Hewlett, in reference to the globe-trotting broadcaster. 

“More Michael Palin,” interjects Albarn. “He’s nicer and also very funny.” 

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In 2023/24, sad events conspired to take Damon and Jamie in a new direction — to that vibrant, teeming country of 1.4billion people, India.  

The result is the Gorillaz ninth album, The Mountain, with its title inscribed in Devanagari script on the cover. 

Performed in five languages — Hindi, English, Arabic, Spanish and Yoruba — it features a host of stellar guests, most living but some no longer with us. 

The musicians come from different corners of the globe, India, Syria, the US, Argentina, Nigeria, and, of course, the UK. 

Albarn says: “The original impetus came from quite a tragic story. We were in Belgrade finishing off a video when Jamie got a call from Jaipur in India. It was from his wife Emma, saying, ‘My mum’s in a coma’.” 

Hewlett picks up the story: “They had been there for a month at an Ayurvedic retreat (a system focused on balancing mind, body and spirit). 

“They had packed their suitcases, had called a taxi and were just on their way home when my mother-in-law had a stroke.  

“She was rushed to the closest hospital in Jaipur — it’s all about speed when you have a stroke.” 

So on December 4, 2022, Hewlett arranged to fly from Serbia to India and so began “eight weeks of daily hospital visits hoping she might wake up”. 

Sadly, his mother-in-law didn’t make it, leaving Hewlett to reflect: “It was a very traumatic experience but, in between those visits, we were able to explore Jaipur. 

“I just fell in love with the place. The people were so warm and I discovered that the whole subject of death is viewed from a very different perspective.” 

He’s alluding to the fact that Hinduism sees passing away as a natural transition — a temporary pause for the eternal soul rather than a final end. 

Hewlett continues: “When I was in the hospital, people were visiting loved ones who were dying. 

“There were tears but, at the same time, there was a feeling of celebration in the belief that they were coming back in an another form.” 

This got Hewlett thinking about possibilities for Gorillaz, his visual playground. 

“Damon was in touch with me the whole time I was there,” he says. “When I came home, I said to him, ‘We need to go to India together to see if we can do something’. A year later (after Blur’s epic reunion), we were off.” 

Albarn says: “I saw it as the perfect opportunity to give the whole world of Gorillaz a nice, new kickstart. I was just waiting for an excuse to go there.  

“I grew up in Leytonstone where my school was 30/40 per cent Asian. My dad was very into Indian classical music so I was genuinely listening to (sitar player) Ravi Shankar at the same time as The Beatles.” 

Albarn also saw visiting India as a perfect opportunity to spend quality time with Hewlett.  

“We enjoy each other’s company,” he says. “We’ve got an awful lot in common and our taste is very similar.” 

Hewlett nods in agreement and adds: “We thrive on finding ourselves in different cultures — and there’s so much to take from a place like India, even if somewhere as big as that can’t be grappled with immediately.” 

And Albarn again: “The first time you go there, you’re just so bewitched by the place.” 

With their sights set on a Gorillaz album drawing on Indian music, two more devastating events were to bring the pair even closer together — and the project into even sharper relief. 

In July 2024, some time after an initial foray to the subcontinent, Albarn’s dad Keith died. Ten days later, Hewlett lost his father.  

For Albarn, a return to India offered him a degree of solace. He journeyed to the ancient city of Varanasi to scatter his dad’s ashes in the Ganges. Keith had been a respected artist, designer and teacher who loved Indian culture. 

“Grief manifests itself in so many ways,” says Albarn.

“You don’t overcome it but you can learn to accept it and going to Varanasi definitely helped. 

“This place has been inhabited for 5,000 years and it’s where families have burned their loved ones every day, every night, for all that time.  

“The fire rituals are wonderful, so poetic — almost like an inhalation and an exhalation.  

“The idea that people pause at sunset, light fires and sing is so beautiful. Harder to do in northern Europe where cloud can bruise the spirit!” 

Albarn goes on to describe, “something I learned, which is a useful life lesson,” from taking a loved one’s ashes to the Ganges. 

“Don’t stress yourself by thinking too much,” he affirms. “At moments like that, don’t think of anything — empty your mind. 

“Emptiness is a beautiful thing and there’s infinite possibility within it. We mention ‘the void’ a lot on this record.” 

For Albarn, the album’s starting point was his gorgeous melody, which morphed into the title track and opener, The Mountain. He calls it the LP’s “signature tune”.  

The finished piece is blessed with sublime playing by Ajay Prasanna on bansuri, a traditional bamboo flute, with Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the late, great Ravi, on sitar. 

Albarn says: “Once I met Ajay and he’d played his bansuri, I thought, ‘I’m never letting this gentleman out of my sight again’. He’s an amazing person. 

“You give him a melody and he turns it into something godlike.” 

As for the contribution of Anoushka, whose mastery of the sitar echoes the work of her legendary father, he says: “I could hardly imagine the idea that I was going to play with one of the Shankar family.” 

Hewlett says: “If you’ve never been to India, you find yourself mentally transported there just by this song. It’s almost like the beginning of a movie.” 

The Mountain is the first of several tracks to feature the voices of the dear departed, in this case maverick actor and film-maker Dennis Hopper. 

Elsewhere, there are contributions from one-time Gorillaz collaborators who have since died — soul singer Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur of De La Soul, The Fall’s Mark E Smith, rapper Proof and Albarn’s long-time associate, drummer Tony Allen. 

Their inclusion is a poignant way of saying: They may have gone but they live on in some way. 

Albarn says: “I think of a mountain as a manifestation of reincarnation because, if you think about it, a mountain is formed through chaos and tectonic shifts. The change in everything creates something new.” 

The Mountain gave Hewlett all the inspiration he needed to begin conjuring up the exotic, beautifully realised imagery, which is so crucial to this Gorillaz project.  

He says: “I guess the biggest challenge for me was that we were dealing with a subject that is more grown up than in the past. 

“How should the characters behave because usually there’s a lot of sarcasm and jokes? 

“So I was thinking about how to tell the story in a respectful way but also maintain a level of fun.” 

Hewlett admits: “We didn’t rush into this one — a lot of work ended up going in the dustbin for both of us, musically and visually, until we got on the right course. But when Damon gave me this piece of music and called it The Mountain, that was the starting point. Everything opened up for me.” 

Of all the myriad guests on the album, perhaps the most notable is 92-year-old Asha Bhosle, one of the most revered singers in Hindi cinema, who sings on the shimmering, life-affirming The Shadowy Light. 

Albarn says: “She’s one of the most important living Indian singers — and maybe even the best. 

“Everyone in India knows her music, she’s had hundreds of billions of streams.” 

And Hewlett adds: “Damon managed to get her to sing for us in her apartment in Mumbai. He used his charm and she was very comfortable with him.” 

If India is central to The Mountain, no Gorillaz record would be complete without sounds of various cultures.  

The Happy Dictator, with eccentric American duo Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks providing the chorus, began life in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, a dictatorship in central Asia. 

“That’s where I got the idea,” reports Albarn. “I went there with my daughter. “We have a father-daughter holiday every year, and we’ve been to North Korea, China and Turkmenistan.  

“This year we’re going to Georgia. We share a real passion for the remnants of communism and the possibility of future socialism.” 

So what’s Turkmenistan like and why call a song The Happy Dictator? I venture.  

Albarn answers: “It’s a very barren place, almost entirely desert, with this pristine modern city of Ashgabat, which is made almost entirely of white marble. 

“Being in that society, I realised that they are given no bad news. They had no news at all, really.” 

Another fabulous song is Damascus, which rekindles Albarn’s abiding love of Syrian music.  

You may recall when he helped assemble the Orchestra Of Syrian Musicians in London while civil war raged in their home country. 

For Damascus, Gorillaz employed the services of Omar Souleyman, one of the country’s pre-eminent singers, alongside American rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def). 

With Syria still in state of flux after the toppling of the cruel Assad regime, Albarn says: “I wouldn’t go there at the moment but I did go to Mali (a favourite destination) in December, even if I was absolutely told not to. 

“I didn’t find it anywhere near as dangerous as everyone says it is and I would definitely go back.” 

This feeds into the notion that Gorillaz has no borders, that it’s an example of how multiculturalism can break down division and strife. 

“Not only is it the right way forward but it’s the most important way forward,” says Albarn.  

“Isolationism and the idea of demonising people from other cultures is not correct — and it’s profoundly dangerous.” 

So that’s why we hear the freewheeling rap of The Roots’ Black Thought on a track like The Empty Dream Machine, which also harnesses the guitar power of Johnny Marr and more sitar from Anoushka. 

And why Albarn’s expressive tones are matched with Argentinian Trueno rapping in Spanish and telling words recorded by American rapper Proof not long before he was shot dead in 2006. 

Let’s not forget that love and loss loom large on this record.  

On Casablanca, again featuring Marr as well as The Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Albarn sings: “I don’t know anything that feels like this/I don’t know anything that hits like this.” 

Simonon has been a member of The Good The Bad & Queen with Albarn and the late Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen. 

You hear Allen intoning, “We are ready, let’s go,” on The Hardest Thing before Damon, clearly with his father in mind, sings: “You know the hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love.” 

Albarn says, “We definitely put a lot of love into this record,” and Hewlett signs off with, “There’s more to come. We’re not finished yet.” 

It’s anyone’s guess where in the world those Gorillaz masterminds will pitch up next. 

GORILLAZ 

The Mountain 

★★★★★