"I wanted to make a kind of science fiction record. But more a social fiction, sort of anticipation," said the Britpop icon best known as the frontman of Blur.
"There were several options and I chose the worst case scenario," he told AFP over a meal on a visit to Paris. "I wanted to make a social fiction record, but reality hit."
Gorillaz has been an outlet for Albarn's more experimental side, breaking free from guitar pop to explore trippy, futuristic sounds. Created in 2001, Gorillaz is a virtual band with four fictional members -- 2D, Murdoc, Russel and Noodle.
The real-life, but behind-the-scenes, members are Albarn and the comic book artist Jamie Hewlett, who has matched the music with an elaborate visual representation that includes cartoon videos.
Preparing "Humanz," the group's fifth album which came out on Friday, Albarn started in 2015 by imagining the United States ruled by Trump, then considered a reality television celebrity with little chance of landing the world's most powerful job.
"I did not believe Trump would be president, but I wanted to imagine what would happen," Albarn said.
