Damon Albarn is writing a West End musical.

The former Blur and Gorillaz frontman - who previously wrote the opera 'Dr Dee: An English Opera' - has revealed his latest musical endeavour came as a surprise even to himself.

He told the Daily Star newspaper: ''It's funny for me to say 'I'm writing a musical', but, yes, that's what I'm doing next.''

Damon, 46, added: ''It's something I've always wanted to do because musicals are great when they're done well.

''It started out with the same subject matter but was going to be a left field, experimental opera. But it's lurched into a mainstream musical for families.''

And although Damon is busy with his first solo album 'Everyday Robots' and his new musical, the prolific musician admitted he hopes to reform Gorillaz after penning some new tracks.

Damon explained: ''I've found myself writing a lot of uptempo songs that sound like Gorillaz.''

The musician performed songs from his solo album at Latitude Festival in the UK over the weekend and decided to stay on with artist partner Suzi Winstanley and their daughter Missy, 14, in order to enjoy some of the other acts.

He said: ''I've played at festivals since 1990 but never had time to stay. I was sceptical and bad-tempered ­after an 18-hour coach journey from a Swiss show but it's been really nice.''