The Good, the Bad and the Queen The Good, the Bad and the Queen Parlophone

Musical side projects are usually of interest only to the stalker elements of an artist's fan base, but in the case of Blur's ceaselessly creative Damon Albarn, everybody ought to pay attention. His previous hobby band, Gorillaz, conquered the world, and with other departures, including a film soundtrack with Michael Nyman and a collaboration with some of Mali's finest musicians, nothing he touches is ever boring.

This latest diversion is particularly unusual, in that it is an understated album that arrives with huge fanfare. Not only is The Good, the Bad and the Queen the first major release of 2007, Albarn has declared it a natural follow-on from Blur's finest hour, Parklife. It features collaborators of such calibre to qualify as a supergroup: the Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse, the ex-Verve guitarist Simon Tong and the Nigerian drummer Tony Allen.

The 12 songs here are fascinating, complex mood pieces, but anyone hoping for music with the instant appeal of Parklife or Gorillaz will search in vain. The Britain Albarn depicts here, a "stroppy little island of mixed-up people" where we "drink all day 'cos the country's at war" is closer to the bleak monochrome of Thom Yorke's recent state-of-the-nation solo album, The Eraser. The slowly pulsing "Herculean" is haunted by a ghostly choir. "Northern Whale" has the squelching synths of a Gorillaz track but stays firmly low-key.

Allen is disappointingly underused, although he takes off amid the spooky fairground sounds of "Three Changes". In contrast, Simonon's weighty dub bass adds to the atmosphere.

But it is Albarn's show, and, after all the cartoon frolics, it is his most mature work yet. Those with the patience to wade through the murk will be richly rewarded.

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