"My 50th birthday party was pathetic compared to his"

Damon Albarn has spoken out on his friendship with Noel Gallagher – and how he now considers his former Britpop rival to be a “comrade”.

Following the lengthy feud between Oasis and Blur in the ’90s, Gallagher recorded backing vocals for Gorillaz track ‘We Got The Power’ last year, what Albarn at the time called a “victory lap” and “the ultimate self-congratulatory Britpop moment”.

Now in an interview with Rolling Stone, Albarn has said that the pair have bonded following going through a similar experience when their bands rose to fame.

“He’s like a comrade,” said Albarn. “It’s about that specific moment in time when you both get the carpet pulled from underneath you, and everything you’ve been abstractly dreaming about suddenly becomes a reality. I was 22, and I couldn’t walk down the street without everybody recognising me.

“That’s an exhilarating but terrifying moment, and we went through it together.”

Asked how his 50th birthday party fared against that of Gallagher’s ‘Narcos’ themed event, Albarn replied: “Oh, mine was pathetic compared with his! His was spectacular. No comparison.”

After Albarn nearly appeared on Gallagher’s ‘Who Built The Moon?’ album, Noel also recently said that he intends to work with his former Britpop rival again in the future.

“I don’t remember asking to be on a Gorillaz record,” said Noel. “I do remember being at Paul Simonon’s one night and it being discussed.”

“[Damon] was supposed to play on ‘Who Built The Moon?’ but we couldn’t make the timings work. Maybe next time,” Gallagher added.

As well as revealing that yet another Gorillaz album in the works, Albarn also recently confirmed that a new record from The Good, The Bad & The Queen will be released before the end of the year.