What you need to know:
After their presentation at Bahidorá 2024, Damon Albarn and Africa Express appear to be recording an album in Mexico and also releasing a documentary.
Damon Albarn is one of the few musicians who knows how to work very well, as he surprises us every now and then with something new from Blur, Gorillaz or as a solo artist. However, This year he decided to give more weight to Africa Express, the huge music collective he founded in 2005 and which apparently has very exciting plans.
It was in 2022, during the Roskilde Festival, when Albarn performed with this project for the last time. Since then he has focused on working with Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree. And although he still has a few shows left with Blur at Coachella, The good Damon is already preparing unreleased music with national and international talent.
Damon Albarn and Africa Express gave us a unique experience at Bahidorá 2024
How you already know, Bahidorá announced that Damon Albarn, together with Africa Express, will be the headliners of the 2024 edition of this festival. We were of course very happy about this news, as it is the first time that the British musician has performed with the group in Mexico. As if that wasn’t enough, very interesting names were added to the talents that would take part in this special show.
Nick Zinner, Bonobo, Django Django Fatoumata Diawara, Seye Adelekan, Femi Koleoso, Joan As Police Woman and Moonchild Sanelly They were just some of the artists who accepted Damon’s invitation to perform in our country under this concept. But without a doubt, we were even more excited when we found out the Mexican acts that also took part in the group’s presentation in Bahidorá.
That’s how it was last February 17th We saw Damon Albarn share the stage with very different Mexican artists such as Luisa Almaguer, La Bruja de Texcoco, Son Rompe Pera, Camilo Lara, Eme Malafe, Mare Advertencia and Los Preamwhich gave us spectacular moments like a very emotional version of “On Melancholy Hill” by Gorillaz or a Spanglish cover of “Panic” by The Smiths (Here you can watch some videos of the show at Bahidorá 2024).
Is there a new album coming from the collective recorded in Mexico?
However, everything points to that The collaboration that Damon has done with the Mexican talent and all the guests he has brought to our country for this show will not end here. It turned out that everyone met at Las Estacas Park for several days to rehearse and improvise together These sessions seem to have produced material for an album that we might hear soon.
It turns out that Damon Albarn Unofficial, one of the most reliable sources of information about the British musician on social networks, published this After the presentation of Africa Express at Bahidorá 2024, Damon and everyone who took part in this occasion will remain in our country for a few more days to record an album with local artists…just like you read it.
Damon and the rest of Africa Express will remain in Mexico for a few more days to record an album with local artists. ☺️
– Damon Albarn Unofficial (@DamonUnofficial) February 18, 2024
Seemingly, Damon Albarn will reunite the entire cast of great artists to work on a new album for the collectivewith since 2019 Egoli They did not release another studio album. Although yes, It is not yet known where they will come together to create the album.but we are definitely very happy about this news.
And apparently they would also prepare an Africa Express documentary
But that’s not all they plan to do after their presentation in Mexico. During the Africa Express show in Bahidorá 2024, we saw several cameramen recording what was happening on stage and with the audiencewhich made us think they were probably preparing something special.
But against all odds, Damon Albarn Unofficial has revealed this In addition to the album, another documentary about the collective, produced by Edge Films, is in preparation.. This is because some people from this company’s team were in Las Estacas and followed Albarn and all the musicians who took part in this show.
Africa Express will release a documentary film produced by Edge Films. pic.twitter.com/bwFY51cJpK
– Damon Albarn Unofficial (@DamonUnofficial) February 19, 2024
This would be the fourth documentary in Africa Express’ careerbecause in 2021 they released a tape that told the story behind the album Egoli It was directed by Denholm Hewlett, the son of Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett. We know that Damon Albarn loves Mexico, but despite what he took away from his visit to this side of the pond, it’s clear to us that he absolutely loves our country. How are you doing? Are you as excited about the news as we are?