Damon Albarn says music "needs" to be political.
The Blur and Gorillaz rocker has been known to inject political messages into his songs both in his groups and as a solo artist, and has said there’s a need for music to have a strong message because "selfie music" isn’t "sustainable".
When asked about the influx of political songs in the wake of several recent political events, Damon said: "It needs to – it really, really needs to. The selfie music is not sustainable. Have I made a selfie tune? I probably tried to but my innate obtuse nature prevented me from doing it properly."
Damon also spoke about his love of travelling, and said seeing the world is important as it allows people to "connect with the world" and become less "isolated in their own little bubble".
Speaking on BBC 6 Music’s ‘The Leisure Society’, he said: "[Travel is] really important and I honestly feel that we could definitely tone down the extremist views people seem to behold at the moment if they weren’t so isolated in their own little bubble.
"The internet has given this weird access to everyone to feel like they’re informed and they connect with the world but they’re not physically going to the places. If you physically see the bigger picture, not just the harsh edit of what something is, and you see the human side of what it actually is, you have such a different view."
Meanwhile, the ‘Parklife’ hitmaker recently said he plans on disappearing from the pop scene "for a few years" to head to Africa to work on a new project.
The 50-year-old singer said: I’m doing this really fascinating thing in west Africa based on the poem of Sundiata.
"Sort of disappear from pop music and go a bit into new territory for a few years."
Damon Albarn: Music needs to be political
