Damon Albarn has spoken about how grief and spirituality shaped the forthcoming Gorillaz album The Mountain.
Revealing he scattered his father’s ashes in India during its creation, the 57-year-old singer said both he and bandmate Jamie Hewlett, also 57, had lost their fathers before working on the band’s ninth studio record.
Speaking about the personal journey behind the album, Damon told The Sun: “Both Jamie and I lost our fathers. We did two quite amazing, magical trips to India.
“India is a very interesting place to carry grief, because they have a very positive outlook on death. England is just really bad at dealing with death.”
He also told how the experience inspired the tone of the record, describing it as a celebration of their fathers’ lives rather than a lament.
Damon said: “In a way, I think this record is in that tradition of celebrating their lives.
“I did things I’d never done before. I swam in the Ganges in Varanasi. I watched the bodies being burnt on the banks of the Ganges.”
Damon added he was struck by the openness of Indian funeral rituals compared with those in the UK.
He said: “In England when we cremate a body we don’t even look at the bodies, it’s covered up immediately and then it’s put in the fire, the little curtains close and that’s it.
“On the banks of the Ganges, every family is there with the body wrapped in a shroud and they’re burnt, and it’s going on everywhere. It goes on 24 hours a day and it’s been going on for thousands of years.”
Reflecting on the moment he scattered his father’s ashes, Damon said: “I took my dad’s ashes there and I cast them in the river. It was very beautiful.”
According to The Sun, Indian culture also influenced the record visually, with its cover featuring the title written in Devanagari, a script used in Sanskrit.
The album is due for release in March.
Damon said this time, Gorillaz will move away from the animated music videos that have long defined their visual identity. Instead, he and Jamie are creating a single extended piece of animation.
He added: “We’re making a full eight-minute thing.
“This is why there are no videos at the moment, because it’s serious stuff. It’s really great that Jamie is concentrating on doing one animated thing.”
Damon also said animation has always been a demanding process for the group.
He added: “It’s a big amount of work, any animation. It’s kind of our Achilles heel because no other band has to spend that kind of time just to produce one small thing.
“So let’s make it a piece of art in itself and not really rely on it for the promotional aspect of things and let it breathe in its own way. Fans will love every aspect of this record.”