Damon's charitable gesture doesn't mean end of Blur

DAMON ALBARN has spoken about his plans to record a solo project in aid of OXFAM, and his intention to take BLUR out on tour following the release of their new album next year.

Speaking to Tim Lovejoy on London radio station XFM last night (November 2), Albarn said a recent visit to Mali inspired the idea of a charity record. He said: "I'm making a record at the moment, not really for Oxfam, but the profits from it, if there are any profits, not presuming that anyone will buy it, but if they did then we're definitely gonna work in conjunction with Oxfam and the projects that I saw when I was out there (Bamaco in Mali).

"I'd never been to Africa before, so I was just dumbstruck when I arrived. It's very poor, but also they're very resourceful out there. On the second day when I was there I went to the big market, which is a recycling market. Imagine going to a land tip, but everything there has all been divided into little piles and they're using everything that's been thrown away again to make something else. When you look at it like that you just think we really are disgusting in the west...

"I was told by somebody there when I told him how much I earn a year, that it was...the equivalent to one tenth of the wage given to Malian workers per annum..."

Albarn said that the album was being recorded "during the day instead of going to the Q Awards".

Albarn also took the opportunity to talk about the future plans for Blur. Joking that the way the band kept together was via "text message", he said that he was "definitely going to consider touring again" with the next album because he "look's forward to playing a new record now".

He added that being in Blur was less like a job and "more like a vocation".

Blur released their greatest hits album, 'Blur: The Best Of' on Monday (October 30), and plan to return to the studio later in the year to continue work on their next album.

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