Damon Albarn says slowthai is a "kindred spirit".
The Blur frontman and Gorillaz star teamed up with the 25-year-old rapper on new Gorillaz track ‘Momentary Bliss’ – which also featured Slaves – earlier this week, and has now said he wanted to join forces with slowthai because they both share the same "world view".
Speaking to Hanuman Welch on Apple Music’s ALT CNTRL, Damon said: "He’s just a kindred spirit. You need to work with people who are kindred spirits, people who are in the same pocket as you are about world view, emotion."
The 51-year-old musician also praised the ‘Ladies’ hitmaker for using music to make "grim scenarios" – such as the current political climate – into "uplifting" situations that make people feel as though they can "do something about it".
He added: "In some ways every generation, [it] crosses their mind – when I was his age, there was still the last decade of the cold war – there was a huge anxiety about atomic apocalypse. We really felt that as kids. I feel for everyone really: having to assimilate so much information which they are absolutely innocent of its creation, but have to live with its implications.
"Someone like slowthai has a great positivity about him – even though he talks about grim scenarios but he’s got an energy that is uplifting … it makes you feel like you can do something about it … which is what you need."
Alongside slowthai – whose real name is Tyron Kaymone Frampton – Gorillaz recently teased a collaboration with Tame Impala, and Damon said there are still plenty more "surprises" to come on their ‘Sound Machine’ project.
Damon – who created the digital band alongside Jamie Hewlett – said of the Tame Impala collaboration: "… There’ll be lots of surprises!"
Damon Albarn: slowthai is a ‘kindred spirit’
