Pitchfork

In April of 2007, Damon Albarn made a few rather cryptic comments to BBC Radio 2 interviewer Steve Wright that some took to mean Gorillaz, the cartoon supergroup led by the Blur frontman and artist Jamie Hewlett, would never make another proper pop album. In the year and a half since Albarn's comments, Gorillaz have been the subject of a documentary, a remix collection, a "circus opera," and a series of promos for the recent summer Olympics. No pop album has emerged though, which has surely caused some trepidation among fans of the band's recordings.

But there will indeed be another Gorillaz pop album, as Damon Albarn told Pitchfork's Scott Plagenhoef in an interview that will see the light of Pitchfork soon enough. Albarn noted that he hasn't started formally contacting folks for those coveted guest spots or anything, but that a record is definitely happening, and therefore, Gorillaz are so not breaking up. (He also said as much to the CBC recently.)

In other news from the land of Gorillaz and Albarn: Monkey's Journey to the West hits North American shops September 23 via XL, and Albarn produced "Sabali", a track from Welcome to Mali, the forthcoming LP from Malian husband-and-wife duo Amadou & Mariam. Look for that one in shops November 17 from Because Music.