ALBUM OF THE YEAR
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN
Merrie Land
Studio 13
In the 11 years since Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong hatched their first album as The Good, the Bad & the Queen, Albarn has released four Gorillaz albums, a solo album, a Blur album, written two operas, film scores and a musical, and generally just got on with being Albarn: constant work, most of it remarkable, and constant shape-shifting. The first TGTB&TQ album was a love letter, alternately caustic and affectionate, to London, all dubby bass, skittery rhythms and hazy pastoralia. Their second widens its brief.
To borrow from Simonon’s old band, this is something about England — Albarn perched, metaphorically, on the edge of the
