Blur continued the march toward their reunion album, The Ballad of Darren, Thursday with the LP’s latest single, the Britpop throwback “St. Charles Square.”
“I was just really relieved it went this way in the studio,” Damon Albarn told Beats 1 Radio of the track following its premiere Thursday. “It’s got that chug to it. But Graham [Coxon] really went with that. And yeah, it’s got an amazing atmosphere. Everybody’s playing really well on that thing.”
Albarn also discussed the vibes around The Ballad of Darren, the band’s first album since 2015’s The Magic Whip and only their third LP since 2000.
“Do you know what the whole thing has really felt like, we’re sort of somewhere in 1992, something like that, ’92, ’93,” Albarn said, alluding to their pre-Britpop years. “We’re just sort of back. I don’t know. And when we go on stage, that’s we’re where we start off really… I’ve always kind of felt like it’s not just about singing about yourself. You’ve got to kind of bring where you’re singing it and writing it with you.”
As for the “Darren” in the album title, the singer said he’s “someone who grew up really with the rest of us and has been through so many of the same experiences. And so in a way, he’s the everyman, but he’s kind of all of us.”
Blur previously shared “The Narcissist” from The Ballad of Darren, due out July 21. “This is an aftershock record, reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now,” Albarn said of the LP in a statement.
The reunited Blur also recently returned to the stage, and while they’re booked out the remainder of the year touring Europe, Japan, and South America, they have not yet announced any North American dates.
English
العربية
Nederlands
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
日本語
한국어
Русский
Español
Svenska
Türkçe
اردو
Tiếng Việt