Gorillaz tracks debuted by Damon

By Greg Cochrane
Newsbeat music reporter

Damon Albarn debuting Gorillaz tracks before returning to rehearsals with Blur

Damon Albarn premiered three brand new tracks by Gorillaz on Wednesday night [14 January].

The trio of demos - Electric Shock, Broken and Binge - were aired alongside songs by Albarn's favourite artists as he presented Zane Lowe's show.

He was joined on the show by fellow members of Gorillaz including Jamie Hewlett.

However, he insisted the tracks were incomplete saying: "I keep changing - it's not finished by any means."

Demo stage

Albarn continued: "It's really hard to know when something's done - if I haven't got it right I'll throw it away."

The songs are set to appear on Gorillaz's as yet untitled third album.

The rough tunes exhibited a sizeable departure from those on their previous two records 2001's Gorillaz and 2005's Demon Days, with fewer vocals and the influence of Albarn's Africa Express work heavily evident.

The show also featured a ten minute montage of Blur's archive John Peel's Peel Acres session, recorded at the DJ's home in April 1997.

Gorillaz's Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett in the studio

"When he died I had a strange moment in time when I felt very close to his family," said Albarn in tribute to Peel.

He introduced the clips by claiming it was "one of the highlights of being in Blur."

Adding to that - and with reference to Blur's reunion summer shows - Albarn admitted: "I'm going to have to work hard to get back to that standard."

Over the course of two hours he also played tracks by a number of other artists including Dead Prez, Jazmine Sullivan, Girls Aloud, The Horrors and Razorlight - over which he and the rest of Gorillaz played whistles, trumpet and xylophone.

He also revealed he plans to travel to Syria in March with the Gorillaz project.

As previously reported, Blur have reunited to play shows in the UK this coming summer.

Read about one of Newsbeat's favourite new bands

Listen to Damon Albarn's Zane Lowe Takeover