In the 16 years since Gorillaz released its self-titled debut album, the virtual, alternative hip-hop band’s co-creators, Blur musician Damon Albarn and illustrator Jamie Hewlett, have wrangled an impressive, wildly diverse roster of music’s biggest talents into their genre-defying orbit. A freewheeling spirit of experimentation colors the band’s work, and over a handful of boundary-pushing albums, everyone from Lou Reed and Snoop Dogg to Bobby Womack, MF Doom and members of the Clash have been charmed by its allure.

Now a few months removed from the release of “Humanz,” the band’s first new album since 2010 — a typically bold effort featuring intrepid contributions and unexpected artistic combos, most notably Mavis Staples and Pusha T on the moody “Let Me Out” and Carly Simon and Colombian-American indie-pop singer Kali Uchis on “Ticker Tape” — Albarn says he’s come to view the process of assembling a Gorillaz album as resembling a contemporary courtship process.

“There’s almost an internet dating aspect to it,” he says with a laugh when calling from his London studio one afternoon. He recalls playing acoustic guitar for Staples and appreciating her open-mindedness to working on his brand of music. “She’s extraordinary, really.”

“When I meet someone, I don’t just play them one song,” he adds of his method of selling an artist on the idea. “I play them all the stuff that I’ve got.”

That’s often a healthy heap of music. The Britpop star has long taken a workmanlike approach to his craft, spreading his musical wings wide with an assortment of solo projects, reunion tours with Blur, extravagant musicals and studying West African music. The 49-year-old is perpetually writing music at a rapid clip. “He could do three or four songs a day,” says Hewlett, who uses the songs as direct inspiration for the animated visuals that accompany Gorillaz music. “He seems to have a constant melody in his head. Which is a gift and a curse.”

It’s humorous to hear Albarn casually refer to how, after we speak, he’ll be taking a lesson in the Malian language Bambara. Or how he has an undisclosed project that will keep him in France for the better part of the next two years. And then there’s a forthcoming new album with his band The Good, The Band & The Queen that features the Clash’s Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen.

“I don’t consider myself to be more work-obsessive than others,” he says. “I need something to do. Otherwise I’m just aimlessly wandering. I really do get that sense that if you love what you do, you should do it all the time. Because you never know when you might lose that spark.”

Dan Hyman is a freelancer.