ONE of the biggest and most culturally resonant bands to emerge from Britain in the past two decades, Blur have long been renowned as the most daring and innovative of Britpop’s biggest players. Returning with their first full length album in 12 years, the immensely popular group have delved into a variety of different genres and styles on the tracks that have been aired thus far; drawing inspiration from pysch influenced rock, lo-fi slacker pop and proto punk.
With The Magic Whip earmarked as one of the most anticipated albums of the year, we’ve taken a brief look at the three singles to gauge what can be expected from the full length release and what kind of headspace they’re operating in from a creative standpoint.
‘Go Out’
Whilst Blur are often unfairly maligned as a band whose material is inoffensive and non confrontational, the renowned four piece have demonstrated that they are still capable of composing fuzz laden rock and roll when they deem it appropriate. Led by Graham Coxon’s hypnotic guitar licks and Damon Albarn’s trademark vocals, it sees them on excellent form and willing to embrace the 21st century’s diverse musical landscape. With subtle allusions to a range of American alt rock stalwarts ranging from Pavement and Dinosaur Jr to contemporary fare such as Wavves and Fidlar, ‘Go Out’ set a precedent of bold experimentation which the rest of the new material has adhered to.
‘There Are Too Many Of Us’
Undoubtedly the brainchild of Damon Albarn,‘There Are Too Many Of Us’ would fit seamlessly into his acclaimed Gorillaz project upon the star studded Plastic Beach. Possessing the same hazy textures that were prevalent on tracks such as ‘On Melancholy Hill’, the minimalistic and sparse use of Graham Coxon’s masterful guitar is accented by infrequent bursts of orchestral strings. It’s laid back pace and layered vocals are the first hint of an overarching preoccupation with psychedelia that is expanded upon with ‘Lonesome Street.’
‘Lonesome Street’
As previously mentioned, ‘Lonesome Street’ features some of the most outright connotations of psychedelic music that the band have ever exhibited. Its seemingly depressing title is juxtaposed by the track’s uplifting riff; which is likely to enable the track to take pride of place as a live standout during their high profile gigs this summer. Featuring the kind of wry delivery that first established Albarn as one of the most identifiable voices of the 90’s, its soaring backing vocals, fleeting use of organ and bizarrely sinister chorus recalls Supertramp at the peak of their powers.
In summary, The Magic Whip is shaping up to be a varied and disparate release from the legendary group; finding them adopting elements of modern music and aligning them with the sounds of not only their own illustrious past, but what preceded them.
