Damon Albarn, Royal Albert Hall

Eclectic British musician and Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn plays the Royal Albert Hall this November in support of his first solo album Everyday Robots.

Never a stranger to sudden musical left turns, Albarn brings subtle world music textures to the fore on Everyday Robots. This is no surprise to his fans, however. Followers of Albarn's career saw  Blur reinvent themselves from Kinks-channeling Britpop paragons to stripped back indie rockers. Since that project, Albarn has brought his creativity to projects as diverse as Gorillaz- the cartoon hip hop supergroup- and composing Chinese opera.

Everyday Robots features elements that have been recurring themes in Albarn’s experimental post ‘90s oeuvre: trip hop beats, gospel choirs, African percussion and broad brushstrokes of world music.

The Afrobeats and electronic touches are often underpinned by percolating trip hop breakbeats, while Albarn’s understated, cryptic ruminations on life and technology float above the music. “Changed into lakeside, In January (hollow ponds), Modern life was sprayed onto a wall in 1993” he croons on Hollow Ponds , subtly referencing Blur’s album Modern Life Is Rubbish. 

Everyday Robot’s reflective tone and adagio pace are rarely broken, but in Mr Tembo - a calypso ode to a Tanzanian baby elephant- the album has an infectious and upbeat track to counterpoint the other more reserved songs.

Such abrupt departures in style and tone distinguish Albarn’s music from his contemporaries, and should make for an absorbing experience at the Royal Albert Hall.

Tickets for Damon Albarn at the Royal Albert Hall are on sale from 1 August