It’s been eight years since Blur’s last album, 2015’s “The Magic Whip” and that record wasn’t the product of normal recording sessions but rather a musical struggle that started in 2012 and went on for 3 years. Expectations are always high with anything new from such Pop royalty as Blur. After all, Blur’s given us Pop masterpieces like “For Tomorrow” or “The Universal”; Pop perfection in “Coffee & TV” or “Beetlebum”; and heart-wrenching, soul-baring poetry in “No distance left to run” or “Tender”.
Unfortunately, their new single “The Narcissist” it’s not one of those: instead, it’s a decent-enough song that probably started as a lyric, as something that they wanted to say and then added some basic pop chord progressions to go with it. But, that’s OK: Blur can do whatever they want. They’ve earned it. They can get together simply because they wanted to and they can release music as they please. I’m sure fans will learn the lyrics and sing them when they play it live. I for one would love to see them perform in their upcoming tour. And I won’t mind them playing “The Narcissist” because it’s a nice pop song and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Blur’s new album “The Ballad Of Darren” was produced by James Ford who has worked with Damon Albarn and Gorillaz before, was recorded at Studio 13, London and Devon, and it will be available on 21st July.
'The Ballad of Darren' - Tracklist
- “The Ballad”
- “St. Charles Square”
- “Barbaric”
- “Russian Strings”
- “The Everglades (For Leonard)”
- “The Narcissist”
- “Goodbye Albert”
- “Far Away Island”
- “Avalon”
- “The Hights”
Here you can listen to Blur’s new single “The Narcissist”
