The Last Word: Blur on The Magic Whip, touring, hiatus & everything in between.
Damon, Graham, Alex & Dave are at Last.fm to talk about what has been going on over the past 12 years & introduce everyone to a live performance from The Magic Whip
A lot has happened since the last time Blur put out an album. 12 years have passed following Think Tank and the space between can be heard in the songs. They seem to contain the collective experiences and growing maturity of each member; Damon Albarn incorporating elements of his hallmark textural electronic music as heard in Gorillaz and his recent solo effort Everyday Robots, likewise Graham Coxon taking greater creative control of the musical direction of the album than on previous efforts. Yet while their personal growth is apparent, they say that collectively they feel as if they've picked up where they left off.
"The remarkable thing is how little has changed, really" - Alex James
The germ of the idea to make a new album occurred in Hong Kong, when the four of them happened to be in the same place at the same time following a tour in 2013. They convened in a small and decidedly unglamorous rehearsal room for 5 days to see what might come of it. After the initial excitement from the sessions wore off and the return to their respective lives the half baked demos they had sketched out sat on a shelf. Eventually Coxon took the reins and decided to bring the halted project to producer Stephen Street, with whom the band had worked in the past (Blur, 1997). The album was revived, and the result dramatic, raw, and striking.
Watch the full session on YouTube here
Find Blur online: Site | Twitter | Facebook
Follow Last.fm elsewhere: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram
