Blur frontman Damon Albarn has given his opinion on the Band Aid 30 single, suggesting that the artists who took part in recording the song travel to Africa to experience the "magic" of the place themselves.
Speaking to Channel 4 News ahead of his show at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the weekend, Albarn, who has worked extensively with African musicians, said: “Having been to many countries and gotten to know many people, it always seems that we have only one view of it.
"There's also this assumption that in Africa everyone knows what's going on. Our perspective and our idea of what helps and our idea what's wrong and right are not necessarily shared by other cultures."
Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Rita Ora, Clean Bandit, Sinead O’Connor, Seal, Sam Smith, Olly Murs, Chris Martin, Bono, Bastille, Elbow, Paloma Faith are among the artists who have recorded a new version of Do They Know It's Christmas? to raise awareness about the Ebola epidemic that has killed thousands in west Africa.
The song received its first airing on the X Factor last night.
Albarn added: “There are problems with our idea of charity, especially these things that suddenly balloon out of nothing and then create a media frenzy where some of that essential communication is lost and it starts to feel like it’s a process where if you give money you solve the problem, and really sometimes giving money creates another problem.”
“All those people who are making that, taking that afternoon out of their schedules, go to Africa, experience it, feel that sense of magic and maybe have a different attitude to life when you come back.”
