The Good, The Bad & The Queen: Herculean

Regal return by indie’s master manipulator

Blissed out baggyista; ‘Parklife’-preachin’ lager lout; post-rock miserablist; Simian svengali – is there any role Damon Albarn can’t turn his hand to? This time around the rai players of Algeria and the Master musicians of Jajouka get a breather from taking orders from the Stella-swigging Brian Wilson of Britpop. Instead we get a supergroup which could only exist within a two mile radius of The Cobden club, W10. Paul ‘The Clash’ Simonon is on bass. Tony ‘Fela Kuti’ Allen is on drums. Danger Mouse is twiddling the knobs. And, er, Simon Tong from The Verve is on guitar. In the midst of it, there’s Damon: pining for a mythic London while a ghostly, glittering dub-soundscape throbs away beneath him. Streets ahead, literally.

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