Photo: Press
Even Noel Gallagher would now concede that Blur won the Britpop war - but at what cost?
Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon over the past few years have repeatedly failed to reconcile their differences - shots fired in interviews for solo projects haven’t helped matters. It’s telling that The Magic Whip is actually the band’s third attempt at making a comeback LP (their last sessions with William Orbit in 2012 ended with the producer describing Albarn as “really awful”).
The Magic Whip is proof that not only could Albarn and Coxon could share a studio but also that the concept of a new Blur record would be an incontrovertibly good thing. It’s an album of reconciliation - both with the band’s past and with each other.
Now, after some time spent in counselling/rehab/Hong Kong/a farm in the Cotswolds and a productive studio session with Stephen Street, we have the best possible outcome: a Blur album that delights hardcore fans, casual listeners and, perhaps most significantly, the band themselves. This is arguably the first time since Parklife that Blur actually sound like they are having fun.
Starting with Garageband demos taken from Albarn’s iPad, the results are striking. ‘Lonesome Street’ kicks things off with a genuinely upbeat track that somehow resembles Syd Barrett doing Public Service Broadcasting - what Coxon has dubbed ‘sci-fi folk’. Whether it’s a throwback or not, it’s also great to have a Albarn lyric that isn’t about existential despair but rather about one particular train to East Grimstead. This is now a band who are comfortable in their own skin.
In fact the band are so relaxed they can even go back to the terrace anthem territory of 'Ong Ong' (Albarn apparently told Coxon "I've gone a bit populist with that one'). He's not wrong - and that's no bad thing. Similarly ‘I Broadcast’ should be released as a single pack alongside a Fred Perry polo shirt and a vintage copy of Loaded.
Postmodern lad anthems aside, the majority of the record is more considered. 'New World Towers' is the slow and considered take on a foreign city - like Lost In Translation if Bill Murray had struck out with Scarlett Johansson. It’s touches on some of Albarn's key themes of dislocation and a life lived online: it could almost fit on Plastic Beach. 'There Are Too Many Of Us’ is more serious, taking inspiration from the Sydney hostage crisis and musing on a city filled to breaking point.
‘Thought I Was a Spaceman’ is arguably the highlight, a deep esoteric groove whose interplanetary journey resemble less Major Tom calling home and more Matthew McConaughey bursting into tears. “Thought I found my black box washed up on the shore” is also the sort of line Albarn was born to write. There are also some genuine curveballs thrown in: 'Mirrorball' is surreal mariachi rock and 'Ice Cream Man', although initially strange, has an oddball charm all of its own.
The Magic Whip is a triumph over animosity. It’s particularly gratifying to not only have Coxon back front and centre but also to hear James put down the cheese knife and reaffirm what he's best at: being a great bass player. James told the Sunday Times recently they are two albums left of material from the band's Hong Kong sessions. Let’s hope it doesn’t take them another 16 years to make a next one.
Blur The Magic Whip (Parlophone) is out on 27 April. The band are performing a run of huge summer shows including a show at Hyde Park and headlining the Isle Of Wight Festival and British Summer Time at Hyde Park. For tickets and more information, visit here.
