Damon Albarn's band The Good, The Bad & the Queen announce new Brexit-inspired album and Glasgow date

The Good, The Bad and The Queen have announced that they will release a new album, Merrie Land, on 16 November. The band, which consists of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong, will put the record out on their newly created label Studio 13.

The Good, The Bad & the Queen are, from l-r: Simon Tong, Paul Simenon, Damon Albarn and Tony Allen

Produced by Tony Visconti and The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Merrie Land contains ten new songs and is billed as “a reluctant goodbye letter” to the European Union and “a series of observations and reflections on Britishness in 2018.”

In an interview with The Scotsman’s music critic Fiona Shepherd, due to be published in The Scotsman Magazine this Saturday, Albarn said: “The album is an emotional response to something that none of us in the band understand, but I think the reason why it works is because it’s not too specific. Keeping an open mind and not becoming too insular is really important for all of us. The problem with Brexit is that it set out a Utopia, and it’s a Utopia that can’t exist anymore. If we’re in the business of Utopias, we have to invent new ones. But the very principle on which the EU was created, that there should never again be war in Europe, is not a bad sentiment to say the least.”

The band will play The North Pier, Blackpool on 1 December, SWG3 in Glasgow on 2 December and Hackney Arts Centre in London on 4, 5 and 6 December.