Damon Albarn gearing up for ‘Humanz’

DAMON Albarn was “upset” when his Gorillaz partner James Hewlett left him for Paris.

The 49-year- old rocker is gearing up for the release of the animated band’s first album in six years, ‘ Humanz’, and has opened up about reuniting with his band mate and how they drifted apart after a “fallow period” in their partnership.

Speaking to the latest issue of Q magazine, Albarn explained: “He basically left and I felt upset by that. There was a fallow period in our relationship.

“I’ve had the same experience with Graham (Coxon) over the years. I get the sense that sometimes people like getting off my steamroller and doing their own thing for a while and then joining me further down the road.”

Hewlett, 49, admitted the reason the group - comprised of four animated members: 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs - fell apart was over his “disagreement” with Albarn and he simply needed a break from the Blur frontman after being in each other’s company for a decade.

At the time, the comic book creator decided to up sticks and move to Paris to spend quality time with his now wife, French actress, Emma du Caunes, and so he turned down Albarn’s offer to work on his operatic project Dr Dee.

Hewlett added: “I needed to change my life. I was going a little bit insane at that point. And, yeah we had a little bit of a disagreement. We’d lived in each other’s pockets for 10 years. Damon’s an artist, he’s one of the few real artists that I know, but that means you can be a little crazy and a little difficult and I can be the same. We locked horns a few times and I needed to escape. I met my wife, I went to Paris and I fixed myself. I sorted out my head.”

Now back with new music, Albarn has admitted he still has an old school Nokia cell phone, despite the virtual group being one of the most heavy technology- driven acts around.