Band
reunions are a thing these days, and if they don’t actually happen, every week
some rumor or another pops up about the potentiality of a reunion happening. What
you do not often see though, is new material, usually it’s just artists living
off past glories and churning out greatest hits sets left, right and center.
Why, well usually any new material is never as good, while also when artists
try and pimp their new material in concert, people inevitably cue for more beer
or relieve themselves in the washer rooms. Somehow, I do not think this will be
the case with Blur though as they prepare to tour their first album of new
material featuring all members in sixteen years.
Yes,
Blur have a new album out and it is called “The Magic Whip” and yes it is very,
very good, so good in fact I would say it ranks up there with their best work
from the 90s. The story behind this album is also quite interesting, as it
started life as a series of jam sessions in between concerts on a tour to South
East Asia, after an initial gig was cancelled. The band ended up in Hong Kong
in a small back ally studio and played around with their instruments for a few
days, not knowing the results would yield an album a couple of years later. The
influence of the big city is seen lyrically and sound-wise throughout the album,
with themes of over-population, urban life, crowded streets and being lost in
the city coming through strongly in the songs. While musically, the band takes
the opportunity to experiment with some different sounds not seen in their
previous work. Despite new sounds such as reggae, experimental, soul and folk
influences coming through in many of the tracks, this album does, however, have
a sense of familiarity about it and one can certainly here Blur, Gorillaz and
even Damon Albarn influences in its overall sound and feel. So I guess, it’s
not entirely a complete departure, but more a varied and eclectic mix of the
old and the new.
So
for the songs themselves. Well the album kicks off strongly with the very “Great
Escape” sounding “Lonesome Street”. This is classic Blur and bounces along with
driving guitar and bass, while featuring a nice homage to Syd Barrett with
Graham Coxon’s mid-song vocal. This track is followed by the Damon Albarnesque “New
World Towers” which takes in the urban feel of Hong Kong in what is quite a melancholy
explorative track. “Go Out” harks back to the “Blur” album with its distorted guitar
driven lo-fi vibe, while “Ice-Cream Man” lyrically is quite Gorillaz-like with
lines such as “here comes the ice-cream man” and “with a swish of his magic
whip”. “Thought I Was a Spaceman” is one of the best songs on the album and one
of the band’s best tracks overall I feel. In this spacey Bowie-sounding song,
it starts off with just Damon singing, classical guitar and a drum machine loop
before the band kicks and it turns in to this atmospheric driving pop track.
Again, like on “Lonesome Street” Coxon wrote himself a little bit in the middle
in what is a very effective and quite innocent vocal line “thought I was a
spaceman digging out my heart”. This track is followed by another driving
guitar track “I Broadcast”, while “My Terracotta Heart is Albarn’s melancholic take
on his and Coxon’s friendship. From here, things diversify even more with the
80s new wave of “There Are Too Many of Us” which is full of synths and a marching
drum beat, and the fantastic “Ghost Ship”, a reggae-sounding funk track which
is another album highlight and probably the most out of the ordinary Blur song
ever. The album then winds down with the gorgeous “Pyongyang” about Albarn’s
trip to North Korea, the happy go lucky anthem “Ong Ong” and the country twang
of Mirrrorball which closes out the album.
So
in conclusion, “The Magic Whip” is a great return for Blur. It is their most
diverse sounding album yet and musically is very interesting as they explore
new things, while at the same time retain some of the classic Blur sounds. All
band members are on fine form and you can really tell the guys are enjoying
being back playing new music together. The band have already previewed the
album live with some promotional gigs, including a great performance in New
York, and as they kick off their official tour in the next few weeks watch for
these songs to be well-received live. So all up, a great edition to the Blur
cannon, and if this does end up being their last album, then “The Magic Whip”
will be a fantastic way for them to go out on.
A+
- Sam
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