Wiki
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Release Date
21 July 2023
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Length
10 tracks
The Ballad of Darren is the ninth studio album by English alternative rock band Blur. It was released on 21 July 2023 and is is their first studio album in over eight years since The Magic Whip (2015).
In June 2021, frontman Damon Albarn first hinted at new music from Blur and Gorillaz, ahead of his second solo studio release The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows. At the time, he was in talks with drummer Dave Rowntree but plans had not come to fruition yet. On 14 November 2022, bassist Alex James spoke on the possibility of new music from the band in nearly eight years. He stated that, when together, the band never knows what is "going to happen next with Damon". This very uncertainty is "part of the terror of being in Blur", according to Rowntree. The band also announced a London reunion show at Wembley Stadium in summer 2023.
On 27 April 2023, Blur announced tour dates in the UK, Europe, Japan and South America. Starting on 19 May, the shows mark the first time the band has toured since 2015 and their first live appearance in four years. The album was announced on 18 May 2023. Each member of the band shared a brief commentary on the record. To Albarn, the record signifies "an aftershock, reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now". Guitarist Graham Coxon added that, with age, it becomes more important "that what we play is loaded with the right emotion and intention".
The band released the lead single "The Narcissist" the same day. The song, described as a "chugging along on a two-chord Coxon riff and a metronomic, vaguely motorik rhythm track", was awarded four out of five stars by The Guardian's Alexis Petridis.
The album's cover is a 2004 photograph of Gourock Outdoor Pool in Gourock, Scotland taken by photographer Martin Parr.
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