Pop music no longer challenges the establishment or discusses politics because performers are part of the “selfie generation”, Blur frontman Damon Albarn has said.

The singer, 47, decried the narcissism in modern music during an interview with the Sunday Times Culture magazine.

He said: “But look at music now. Does it say anything? Young artists talk about themselves, not what’s happening out there. It’s the selfie generation. They’re talking platitudes.

“What are any of them saying? I don’t hear anything other than: ‘This is how I feel.’ Which is an important part of song-writing, but we’re talking in the context of the election – and they don’t have anything to do with it.”

Albarn said his ideal scenario in government would be “Green and Labour, with a serious move to reduce Trident and the armed forces”.

Blur are due to release their eighth studio album, The Magic Whip – their first since 2003’s Think Tank – on 27 April. They are scheduled to play Barclaycard British Summer Time Hyde Park on 20 June. [The Guardian]