Head's up, Damon Albarn's supergroup will be touring again and the tickets are selling out fast. The supergroup recently decided to release a new album and they're out and about the UK playing again. For Blur fans out there this is a great chance to see some of Damon Albarn's finest work.
A little about the band- made from the finest of musical royalty, The Good the Bad and the Queen are a project from King of Britpop himself, Damon Albarn. After making his name with Blur and then stepping up his game with the critically acclaimed Gorillaz, Albarn has made a name for himself as one of the most accomplished and innovative musicians around. With Simon Tong (The Verve), Paul Simonon (The Clash), and Tony Allen, legendary drummer of Africa 70.
Earlier this year, Visconti gave an update on the progress of the long-awaited new album:“In the middle of 2017, I started working with Damon Albarn,” he told The Irish Times. “We’re about two thirds of the way through and taking a break, as Damon is off on a Gorillaz tour, but we will resume in April and it will be probably be out before next Christmas,” he revealed.
The producer also said that the album was inspired by the North of England. “It’s an ode to the North of England, bizarrely…it’s sort of set in Blackpool, between Starr Gate and [historic pub] Uncle Tom’s Cabin, if you want to be geographically precise.”
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Damon Albarn has surprised Blur fans yet again. The frontman announced during Blur's first Hong Kong gig (May 6th 2013) that the band "will try to record a new record" in a week-long period during their stay in the vibrant city, and the news (captured in our exclusive video) had taken the world by storm.
The Blur forums have been given a revamp, Damon's been spotted abroad the Hong Kong MTR train, Graham Coxon was seen in the city's "Soho" Lan Kwai Fong, plus Dave's been tweeting meticulously about Hong Kong. Something's definitely up.
A few days ago, a Hong Kong music sharing page "Zenegeist" shared a photo of a new Blur demo in their official Facebook page. The photo has the text "Front of House" written in front, as well as some technical details of the brand new demo tape.
The original post message was in Chinese: 剛才在Avon 樓下碰到blur 的roadie Steve . Steve 透露樂隊已完成在港的錄音工作，並已錄下數首demo.
曲風仍然很blur 和帶有lofi 感覺。
Blur 將會在明天離港
The text can be translated into "We just bumped into Blur at Avon and met their roadie Steve. Steve revealed that the band had completed their recordings in Hong Kong, and produced a few new demo tracks. Blur's new demos still retain the original 'Blur' sound and has a very low-fi feel. Blur will leave Hong Kong tomorrow."
As with many news recently, this is speculation as to whether the information is legitimate or not. The picture seems real albeit the weight, and Damon Albarn indeed announced in front of thousands of live audiences in Hong Kong that they were going to try making new material last week. However, as some fans pointed out, the item in the picture weights 83kg - impossible for a small demo tape.
Graham Coxon also posted a picture of biscuits on what seems like studio equipment on Twitter, presumably from the studio they hired in Hong Kong after the announcement.
Biscuits on studio equipment - speculations on Blur's new recordings 2013
It could very well be that Blur will polish up these demo after their tour, or perhaps finally gather all their previous recordings from the old William Orbit sessions and release a new Blur album. Or perhaps the band will choose not to use the new tracks they recorded in Hong Kong this week. Or, will Damon Albarn change his mind again and decide to drop Blur after the world tour?
Amidst rumours of a new album, new Blur EP and new tour venues for the latter part of the year, anything can happen.
One thing's for sure - the recent Blur news are all pointing to a positive direction, and the band's prospects for releasing a new album are looking rather positive.
