Damon Albarn announces new The Good, The Bad & The Queen album, a reluctant goodbye letter to the EU

It's been a long time coming

In fact it's been 11 years since the last The Good, The Bad & The Queen album. Following their hiatus, the four musical storytellers, comprised of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong, are back with new album Merrie Land. Released via the newly created Studio 13, the album was produced by Tony Visconti and contains 10 new songs, all of which were written during the current period in which the UK is preparing to leave the European Union. According to the press release it's a "reluctant goodbye letter, a series of observations and reflections on Britishness in 2018." https://youtu.be/6p1mq19htTc Continuing, the press release reads: "Merrie Land’s focus moves beyond The Good, The Bad & The Queen's London-themed first album to a wider land, with a beautiful and hopeful paean to the Britain of today, an inclusive Britain, currently in an Anglo-Saxostentialist crises at the end of a relationship, wondering  what might be salvaged. Could there be a more perfect band - with their creative symbiosis of pasts and present and shared acclaimed music histories - to reflect on the anticipation, disorientation and confusion of current life." The tracklisting for Merrie Land is as follows: 1. "Merrie Land" 2. "Gun to the Head" 3. "Nineteen Seventeen" 4. "The Great Fire" 5. "Lady Boston" 6. "Drifters & Trawlers" 7. "The Truce of Twilight" 8. "Ribbons" 9. "The Last Man to Leave" 10. "The Poison Tree" Released November 16th, you can pre-order the album here. December sees the band set out on tour for a run of UK shows, performing songs from the new album live, for the very first time, in Blackpool, Glasgow and East London. Tickets go on sale Friday October 23^rd at 9am. Full dates below: Dec 1^st – The North Pier, Blackpool (Tickets) Dec 2^nd – SWG3, Glasgow (Tickets) Dec 4^th – Hackney Arts Centre, London (Tickets) Dec 5^th – Hackney Arts Centre, London (Tickets) Dec 6^th - Hackney Arts Centre, London (Tickets)