Can Blur whip us into a frenzy with their first album in 12 years?
Blur will forever be synonymous with the Britpop era of Tony Blair, cord trousers and a rivalry with Oasis. However, unlike Oasis their music matured with albums like the self-titled Blur and 13. Will their newest, long-awaited album The Magic Whip be a departure, an evolution or a backward step?
I always thought Damon Albarn was the driving force behind Blur. After Blur disbanded, Damon went on to form circa 3,405 different bands, all of which sounded nothing like the band that catapulted him to music royalty. Listening to The Magic Whip, I realised that the driving force was actually Graham Coxon, as the first half of the album sounded more like Bittersweet Bundle of Misery, than Clint Eastwood.
This half of the album was the first half. And I have to admit, it was disappointing. It sounded juvenile and... well, simple. Go Out and Lonesome Street are the singles that were released to whet our appetite, however I felt these were really flat. Even with Go Out's jaunty, up beat tempo.
The second half of the album was all Albarn. Melancholic, multi-layered and experimental. This is more my cup of tea.
As you can probably surmise from the artwork, there's a Far Eastern flavour to the album. Not musically, but desperately lonely tracks like Pyongyang, instantly forgettable New World Towers and the wonderfully alternative Ong Ong were nods to Far Eastern cultures.
This is an album of two halves. The first will please the Blur purists, the second will satisfy the Albarn supporters. Put the whole thing together though and what you're left with is a feeling of disenchantment.
I always thought Damon Albarn was the driving force behind Blur. After Blur disbanded, Damon went on to form circa 3,405 different bands, all of which sounded nothing like the band that catapulted him to music royalty. Listening to The Magic Whip, I realised that the driving force was actually Graham Coxon, as the first half of the album sounded more like Bittersweet Bundle of Misery, than Clint Eastwood.
This half of the album was the first half. And I have to admit, it was disappointing. It sounded juvenile and... well, simple. Go Out and Lonesome Street are the singles that were released to whet our appetite, however I felt these were really flat. Even with Go Out's jaunty, up beat tempo.
The second half of the album was all Albarn. Melancholic, multi-layered and experimental. This is more my cup of tea.
As you can probably surmise from the artwork, there's a Far Eastern flavour to the album. Not musically, but desperately lonely tracks like Pyongyang, instantly forgettable New World Towers and the wonderfully alternative Ong Ong were nods to Far Eastern cultures.
This is an album of two halves. The first will please the Blur purists, the second will satisfy the Albarn supporters. Put the whole thing together though and what you're left with is a feeling of disenchantment.
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