Gorillaz Preview New Songs On BBC

Gorillaz have completed a number of demos and are set to begin recording the follow-up to 2005's Demon Days.

Singer Damon Albarn helped Steve Lamacq sub for BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe on his radio show on Wednesday night and played three new demos on the program: "Electric Shock," "Broken" and "Binge."

Albarn, who's experimented with Chinese opera in the past, seems to have a real taste for world music. Arabic rhythms could show up on the new Gorillaz album, since Albarn and collaborator Jamie Hewlett (who also took part in the program) plan to travel to Syria this year to work on the new disc.

"I'm going to Syria because I've got a real fascination with Arabic orchestral music," Albarn said on the program. "We're going at the end of March for Gorillaz."

"Electric Shock" features Arabic rhythms mixed with Wurlitzer organ. Albarn premiered the track live last year, according to NME.com.

"['Electric Shock' is] rough and not finished by any means, but hopefully people will enjoy it," Albarn said. "I come back to a song a lot of times, but six months is the maximum [amount of time I spend on a track]; it's hard to tell when a song's finished."

The radio show also featured a 10-minute montage of Blur material recorded at the home of the late BBC DJ John Peel in April 1997.

In addition to recording a new album for Gorillaz, who were recently declared MySpace U.K.'s most popular band, Albarn will reunite with Blur for two shows at London's Hyde Park on July 2 and 3.

Albarn's Blur bandmate, guitarist Graham Coxon, contributed to Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty's debut solo album, which is due out in March.