'The Good, The Bad and The Queen'

'The Good, The Bad and The Queen'

What Damon Albarn did next: Aidin Vaziri | Damon Albarn is used to getting all the attention. But on his latest outing, "The Good, the Bad & the Queen," the hyperactive lead singer of the British band Blur and mastermind behind platinum cartoon rock act Gorillaz, is quite happy to make room for a few qualified collaborators: former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, ex-Verve guitarist Simon Tong, Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen and Gnarls Barkley producer Danger Mouse.

"It's quite strange, most of the time I'm in the back playing the piano," Albarn said of his role in the collective, which plays Sunday at the Grand at the Regency Center. "Personally, I'm really happy in that position. It makes the whole thing kind of laid-back."

The nameless group made its American debut last month at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, where it stretched out the album's haunted melodies and hushed-tone poems about London life into a dynamic live show. "We spent a good couple of weeks in rehearsals trying to work out what we could do with it," Simonon said. "We didn't want to repeat the whole album note for note. It needed another approach."

Albarn rebutted rumors that the Gorillaz had split up. "It's a bunch of cartoon characters," he said. "How can they split up? They are never going to get old and lose their hair. ... We're just changing the format." And shrugged off Blur reunion murmurs: "It's nice anyone gives a s -- , obviously, but I can't imagine it at the moment."

As for the crew behind "The Good, the Bad & the Queen"? Simonon, the eternal punk, said they are taking things day by day, meaning this could be the first and only time most people see these men onstage together. "We don't have a master plan," he said. "I don't really do things I don't want to do. I'll stop doing it when it stops being fun."