Blur have announced their first new material in eight years. The Britpop legends – comprised of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree – have shared the details of their ninth studio album “The Ballad of Darren“, which is set for release on 21st July 2023.
Speaking about the title “The Narcissist”, frontman Damon Albarn said: “I think the whole nature of being in a band… especially talking about yourself, having photographs taken… that’s all about yourself.
“Obviously there are deep practitioners of narcissism in the entertainment world, but it also applies to people like Putin, you know? It’s one of those kind of troubling aspects of modern life. There’s definitely mediations on modernity in the record for sure.”
Of the album title, Albarn says: “Darren is many people. It is directly one person. But do we want to spoil who Darren is yet? There’s a picture of Darren in the album. Not on the front cover. It was going to be but then we put it on the inner sleeve because it’s not the sort of attention Darren will want.”
On returning with new material, Albarn referenced the band’s forthcoming shows at Wembley Stadium, noting: ““What’s the point of doing all of this unless there’s something that represents in some way how we all feel now?” He claimed the album’s “purpose” was to reflect the band’s generation, but said: “I think also it has enough of the modern world in it to kind of be relatable to people younger as well.”
Bassist Alex James added: “The fact that we’ve made a record is a surprise to me… [but] looking back it’s what we actually do.”
The record, which is the follow’s 2015’s “The Magic Whip“,
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