Damon Albarn has read How the Grinch Stole Christmas! for BBC Radio. Listen below
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The moment took place on Jo Whiley’s show on BBC Radio 2 yesterday (December 23), during a show in which the presenter played a host of Christmas hits.
As a “festive treat” the Gorillaz frontman briefly stopped by to give a reading of Dr. Seuss’ classic children’s book.
You can listen to the full episode here, or hear a snippet of his rendition below.
@bbcradio2 Damon Albarn reads ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ by Dr Seuss for Jo Whiley 🎄 Listen now on BBC Sounds 🧡
♬ original sound – BBC Radio 2 – BBC Radio 2
It’s been a busy year for Albarn, who announced the upcoming Gorillaz album ‘The Mountain’, which is set for release on February 27. It was first announced and previewed at their phone-free ‘House Of Kong’ mystery show in London back in September.
So far, they’ve released four singles from the LP – the most recent being ‘Damascus’, which followed on from ‘The God Of Lying’ (featuring IDLES), ‘The Happy Dictator’ (feat. Sparks), and ‘The Manifesto’ with Trueno and late D12 member Proof.
Other artists who have joined Albarn and Jamie Hewett for the record include Black Thought, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Kara Jackson, Paul Simonon, Johnny Marr, and Anoushka Shankar.
Also on the album are contributions from The London Arab Orchestra, Demon Strings, Chris Storr, James Copus and Matthew Gunner, while deceased acts like Dennis Hopper, Bobby Womack, De La Soul‘s Dave Jolicoeur, Tony Allen, and the late Mark E Smith of The Fall are billed as ‘Voices from Elsewhere’.
In an interview earlier this autumn, Albarn opened up about how he and Hewlett losing their fathers and travelling to India was a huge source of inspiration for the album.
“We did two quite amazing, magical trips to India. India is a very interesting place to carry grief, because they have a very positive outlook on death,” he explained.
“I did things I’d never done before. I swam in the Ganges in Varanasi. I watched the bodies being burnt on the banks of the Ganges. I took my dad’s ashes there and I cast them in the river. It was very beautiful.”
In March, Gorillaz will head out on a UK and Ireland tour, which includes stops in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin, as well as a one-off headline show at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They’ll also play some warm-up shows in Bradford, and perform at numerous European festivals, including Electric Picnic, Primavera Sound Barcelona and Porto, and Rock Werchter. Visit here for tickets.
