Dr Dee is the fruit of Albarn’s long years of interest in “questions of Englishness and the occult and things that up to now I have felt a bit closeted about expressing publicly. Doing the research has been the most amazing experience. Everything I’ve read has led to something else - Christianity to Judaism, Paganism to Nordic mythology, astronomy to Hermetic philosophy - and it just seems to go on and on without end.’ John Dee is a historical figure, an Elizabethan sage on whom it is often thought that Shakespeare based the character of Prospero. For Dee, there was no barrier between science and magic: as well as being a pioneering mathematician and geographer who advised the Queen on matters of international navigation, he was a visionary alchemist and astrologer who sought direct contact with angels.