New Blur Album Could Be On The Way

The band are recording together again   02-Nov-11

Blur recently made the news for a new song they recorded with poet, Michael Horovitz.

The song never saw the light of day, but the fact that Blur have been in the studio working together again does suggest that a new Blur album may be closer than it ever has been for the last 8 years.

Damon Albarn has also suggested that the band may perform live shows in America in the not-too-distant future. Albarn said (via Contact):

"We think there might be an audience for us over there [in America]. We've always wanted to play in America again."

This is great news for fans in the US, but Damon has some less exciting news for fans in the UK:

"I just don't know if anyone would want to see it [in the UK] again - they've seen it already haven't they? Do people genuinely want to go through that again? We've got nothing new."

The band's last album was Think Tank (2003), which only sparsely featured guitarist, Graham Coxon, but still found critical acclaim.

In terms of the possibility of a new album, Albarn is no stranger to recording at the moment, what with his Gorillaz project, his upcoming solo project, and a supergroup recording with Flea and Tony Allen (Rocket Juice And The Moon). 

Blur's most recent recording was a solitary song; the song never got released due to unpredictable nature of the London riots this summer. It was written about the proposed cancellation of Notting Hill Carnival, but shortly after the song was recorded, the festival was announced to be going ahead as normal:

"If they'd have cancelled the carnival - and thank God they didn't - maybe we'd have put [the song] out. It had its moment, it was a perfect plea to reinstate the carnival. So it wasn't relevant - it was relevant for about 12 hours."

Despite the non-release of the new song, the band are rehearsing together regularly, and seemingly all is harmonious. This may be a catalyst for recording a full album, or it may only result in a tour of America, Albarn has certainly expressed his enjoyment of playing through the band's back catalogue:

"Yeah we do still meet up regularly. When I actually get to do Blur, though, it's amazing playing all those old songs, it's a great feeling."

With this kind of mood in the Blur camp, the atmosphere certainly sees more condusive for songwriting than at any point in the last eight years. 

For now, here's a song to pass the time:

Rich Beech
@sonicamped

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