NME tweeted that they were going to post an article about "Blur's new album" recently. Imagine the surprise and disappointment when instead, this article came out (source: NME magazine):
Damon Albarn has halted work on new Blur material, producer William Orbit has toldNME.
The producer, who worked on the reunited Britpop band's 1999 album '13', confirmed that the four-piece had been recording new material, but that the sessions were stopped "suddenly" three weeks ago.
"The new stuff sounded amazing," he says in this week's NME, which is on newsstands from today or available digitally now. "Then it all stopped suddenly. It was all over with Damon, and the rest of the band were like, 'is this it?'". Orbit had previously hinted that he was recording with the band in a series of tweets. Back in January, he wrote: "I just found out that she [Diawara] has done tracks with Damon A, who I’m in the studio with from Wednesday!" He later added to the band's guitarist Graham Coxon: ‘Loving the guitars you laid down! Vocal session March 3!’, suggesting that the sessions?were with Blur and not one of Albarn's many side projects.
However, another tweet later suggested the work may have stalled. Replying to a tweet from one fan who asked for Blur news in March, Orbit replied: "Blur could have been good. But Damon, brilliant and talented tho he is, is kinda a shit to the rest of Blur."
Last month, Albarn denied he was finished with Blur after earlier suggesting that their huge Hyde Park reunion gig to coincide with the close of this summer's Olympics in August would be their final show.
Quite a sensational article that was quite over-hyped, but it definitely summed up the interaction between William Orbit and Damon Albarn in the last few weeks. Strange tweets, strange news and disputes... what is going on?
The real deal!
Then seconds later, suddenly...this happened: fans are told that the Blur boys are recording again! Check out Alex Jame's tweet fresh off his twitter feed today!
Guess NME isn't entirely accurate then. Fans, prepare for more excitement and news on the Blur roller coaster ride all the way until the Olympics gig 2012.
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Yes, the future's been so different while we're gone...
Feature Article by BlurBalls.com
We are going to try to speculate about Blur's future sounds, and future plans, albeit the limited information out there in the Blur-o-sphere. Read on to find out our theories and analysis.
Blur is, essentially, making our brains foggy. There has been a bombardment of news, interviews and mixed information about Blur's prospectus in the year 2012. Blur may make new material. Wait- actually Blur may not make any new material at all. Blur are also, definitely, going to be playing one of their most important gigs ever this year- the Olympics Hyde Park summer shows.
So what is in store for us fans, who have followed, anguished and screamed in excitement about the band we know and love?
To start off, there is some great news for all Blur fans out there. Damon Albarn has revealed that Blur, far from their rumoured disbanding/ splitting up/ fall out, is actively back in the studio recording new tracks.
Damon Albarn appeared on the Andrew Marr show on BBC Radio 1 in the morning of May 13th 2012. He said that Blur were doing some recordings "next week" or "the week after", and that there could well be more than one new song played at the Hyde Park Olympic summer shows.
"A couple, maybe a couple. We're going to do some more recording" - Damon Albarn, May 13th 2012
This recent development is certainly generating great hype amongst Blur's fan base. Could this, once again, be another comment to throw fans off another direction? Or is it genuine, positive news?
The Blur camp has been full of emotional ups and downs lately. Moods have been soaring sky high with the announcement of the Olympics Hyde Park summer gigs (when it was thought 2009 was their last). Moods dipped to an all time low when previously, Damon Albarn announced Blur are 'over', and that they will quit after the summer gigs.
Damon have also said Blur will not record new songs. The Guardian did a revealing interview where Blur were made to sound like it's over permanently. Damon Albarn later seemingly changed his mind (or perhaps it was the biased reporting) and quashed his statements in ShortList magazine. He, apparently, "completely lost it" when he made those statements.
Damon on the cover of The Guardian interview, which rocked the Blur fan-base
Guitarist Graham Coxon and Drummer Dave Rowntree also made several statements deeming the bleak future of Blur. Bassist Alex James also said many varied things about the band's prospects, and not all of it was positive. Who can we believe?
Another revealing new development: William Orbit (producer of Blur's 13) made a harsh tweet calling Damon Albarn a 'pig' recently. Straight off his twitter feed was the agressive remark:
"Blur. Awesome band. Damon, brilliant. No question. + hard working as can 100% relate. But as a person, turned out to be a pig."
Could this be the beginning of a feud between Blur and the super producer? We speculate that perhaps Damon and the band recorded several new tracks with Orbit at the beginning of this year, but some how, things did not work out for the collaboration. Maybe Damon was fickle in his choice and opinions, ideas and music talents clashed.
Quite possibly, the news that Blur are "recording again" means that they were re-recording the tracks they recorded with Orbit after being displeased with the results. Orbit is appearing on BBC Radio 6 to speak about this fall-out - but we have to ask, why is he making public attacks on Damon Albarn? Why the bitter remarks? Is this another random massive fall out between strong minded people of the music business?
Damon with violin - back to Modern Life is Rubbish / The Great Escape orchestral, wispy sounds?
Or, Blur could be reuniting with their early producer Stephen Street for a different sound. After all, Street is producing and remastering the whole Blur catalogue for the 'Blur21' massive compilation box set, set for release in July 2012. They could have chosen anyone otherwise if nothing was up.
No one knows what is going to happen yet this year. Blur, being Blur, keeps us guessing - imagine Damon taunting: "It really really could happen" and then changing his mind!
A very young Blur - will their new tracks sound 'Leisure'-esque?
After all, Blur is an unpredictable band that changes constantly. The sounds range from early Indie tunes like in ''Leisure', to the Britpop sounds of 'Modern Life is Rubbish' and 'Parklife', to the American Rock sound from 'Blur', melancholic / sonic sounds from Orbit's '13' and finally, the low-fi rock of 'Think Tank'.
Maybe Blur decided they have outgrown Orbit's sonic, psychedelic sound of the early 2000s and want to embrace something new. Or perhaps Damon's leaning towards more of a 'Fool's Day' feel, the ballads that matches drums and piano tunes together in an almost 'The Good The Bad and The Queen' style. Damon's new opera 'Dr Dee' definitely shows traces of his love for folk, piano ballad pop, which seems to be cropping up a lot in Damon's post-Blur projects.
Hot off BBC 6's twitter - What's up with Billy Orbit ?
Blur's latest song 'Under the Westway' certainly seems to be heading towards the general direction of what we mentioned above. Slow, sad and reflective... could this be Blur's new sound? Piano ballads? 'Apple-Carts'-esque tunes? If so, then it would be very interesting to hear what new tracks Damon and company are currently recording. Maybe Dave's drums will only feature on limited tracks.
That's not to say that Blur will release a new album any time soon. There seems to be no album plans in store for the immediate future. At most, perhaps we will get a few new tracks from the band. Or will these "new tracks" and recordings even see the light of day? What if Damon changes his mind yet again?
Damon, after all, did say he was recording with Graham Coxon again recently (click to read). Is he planning some sort of solo album with Graham only? Certainly, he seems to be getting on with the guitarist very well lately, more so than "the other two" ? Is a Graham Coxon/ Damon Albarn album in the works? Note- Dave and Alex had little to say in the media recently about their band.
Future two man show ?
Listen to the latest Blur interview chat below (credit to Gorillaz Unofficial for the recording) where Damon revealed there may be more than 1 new song and feel free to leave a comment, vote on our poll and tell us your views on what you think of all the new developments.
Blur can now move on to many possible roads- it's up to the boys to decide which road to take. Which one would they choose ?
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LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT: Blur
has announced that they will play four warm-up dates in early August
2012. The official news was posted on Wolverhampton Civic Halls' official website(click here)one
day earlier than the official
announcement, which was scheduled to be on Sunday 2012.
The dates and venues
are:
Wednesday 1st August at Margate
Winter Gardens
Sunday 5th and Monday 6th
August at Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Tuesday 7th August in Plymouth
Pavilions
Tickets are extremely
limited and Blur have arranged a special
pre-sale for fans, at 9am on Wednesday
16th May (ahead of the general on-sale of Friday 18th).
Want to maximise your
chance for tickets? For all fans, sign
up now at Blur.co.uk and you will be sent a link at 9am on Tuesday 15th May,
which will go live 24 hours later when you can use it to enter Wednesday's
pre-sale.
The tickets are priced
at £35 each, plus a £3.50
booking fee. ID will be required on entry to the venue. It seems that there
will be no gigs in London or Central, but so far, so good.
Additionally Wolverhampton Civic Hall can hold approximately 5000 people -
providing you're not too late, it seems that securing a ticket will not be a
problem.
Good luck
to everyone who wants to buy tickets- remember, sign up from the link above and
wait for the presale on the 16th May!
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Some say it's like something out of Damon Albarn's solo album The Good, The Bad and The Queen; some say it's a melancholic ballad; some live it, some hate it, some fans even claim it's the ultimate clue to what any new Blur material (in the future) may sound like.
Ladies and gentlemen, Damon Albarn previewed the new Blur song 'Under the Westway' on the BBC Front Row show on the 7th May 2012. This is the second time the song has been played - the first was during the War Child live gig earlier this year, where BlurBalls exclusively filmed the touching, two-man performance.
Damon was interviewed at his studio and he previewed the new Blur track. This song is rumoured to be included in the band's Blur21 massive box set as the mysterious track. The box set will include remasters of all their catalogue and many exclusive, unreleased tracks.
Listen to it on BBC iplayer HERE, or watch the youtube footage with Damon on piano below:
The track seems very promising, and of course, melancholic...just in time for Blur's massive Hyde Park gig this summer. But can it compare with the band's earlier track 'Fools Day' ? Is this too Beatles-esque? Or is it a new direction for a future Blur?
Guess fans will have to wait and see. The box set will be released on July 2012.
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A positive update on Blur's future - Damon Albarn tells Irish Independent that he's "sketchy" on the band's future, but won't totally rule out any records after the gigs this summer. This interview followed on from another positive interview (click here) earlier from ShortList, where Damon Albarn quashed his earlier comments about the 'end of Blur and Gorillaz'. Check out the scans below and click to read them in full.
Credits to eyebrowy for the scans
Damon's obviously in high spirits when he was interviewed. Perhaps the frontman feels pressure from the media, especially after some of the negativity surrounding their Brit Award comeback performance. Or perhaps he simply likes defying the audience's expectations on anything.
Yet, Damon did say more surprising things recently. He made a comment during one of his Amsterdam gigs, when asked about the future of Blur, that he had been recording with Graham Coxon in the studio recently.
Damon Albarn was also featured on the Jools Holland show performing his new opera Dr Dee. Watch his performance of 'Apple Carts' and interview below:
But one thing's for sure - Blur's still going to be around in the future, contrary to all the rumours last month!
Read Damon's full Guardian interview deeming the end of Blur HERE
Read all about Blur talking about their future HERE
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Damon Albarn has spoken out finally about The Guardian interview a while ago, when he deemed the 'end of Blur' and possibly Gorillaz, his successful virtual band. The good news? He dismissed the rumours surrounding the comments he made in the article, which definitely helped clear up many of the things he said previously.
In the latest issue of ShortList, Damon seemed quite unhappy about how some of the comments he made got distorted - and even got to correct some of it.
When asked whether Blur will make a new record in the future, he stated that there are no concerete plans as of right now, but that the band will see how it is after their massive Olympics Hyde Park 2012 gigs- "It would be interesting to see where it would arrive, because it would be very different, I'd imagine."
He also said that "there could be another Gorillaz album", as he was willing to make the music as long as Jamie Hewlett wanted to collaborate and do the illustration.
It seems that the article implied Damon is not saying Blur's over, The Guardian article exaggerated his comments and that the four boys are on good terms. It also seems that the Hyde Park gig this summer will be the make-or-break gig which may just determine the band's future prospect.
Albarn also said he was willing to collaborate with Noel Gallagher "if he [came] on the African Express train this September". The African Express Train will be Damon Albarn's new musical tour, set inside a train, travelling around Britain (click here to read more).
Scroll down for the scans for Damon's ShortList interview below (credits to JackS for the scans).
It's brilliant news that Damon Albarn, the frontman, finally clears up the rumours and mixed messages so prevalent in recent media about Blur. Now, it all boils down to Hyde Park and whether the gig for the London Closing Ceremony will be a success, or a disaster.
Read Damon's full Guardian interview deeming the end of Blur HERE
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In the 90s, the media reported Graham Coxon's narrow escape from death - Graham was photographed getting hit by a car during an evening out. Here at BlurBalls, we dug up from his archive interviews what Graham said on his first near death experience:
Jamie: Have you ever been in a car crash?
Graham: I was run over when we signed our first record deal - it was almost the shortest career in the world. I was around Notting Hill Gate and I found myself bashed up into the sky and landing on the road.
Alan: Were you driving?
Graham: No, I was just drunk - walking in the road and this copper said 'Hey sonny, wake up' and I said 'Am I dead?' and he said 'No, but you've had a nasty knock, son. We're taking you to hospital.'
Jamie: Were you alright?
Graham: I had huge concussion - this Irish nurse was wheeling me around the hospital for hours doing tests. I just kept asking her to marry me all the time. There's nothing so good when you're drunk and concussed as an Irish voice. Not one of the harsh ones, but the soft ones.
Now, in 2012, he has done it again. A huge fire destroyed the seafront Best Western Hotel in Falmouth, Cornwall yesterday, and Graham Coxon narrowly got away, yet again. Staff and guests, including the Blur guitarist, was evacuated and no one was hurt.
On Coxon's official twitter page, he, who is performing at Princess Pavilion in the town, wrote: "We have rooms at the beach hotel and had to leave."
He later tweeted: "We watched it... We had to leave the foyer and then watch it get worse and worse... rather sad."
Watch the video clip, and listen to an appropriate Graham Coxon song below. Graham Coxon's luckily unscathed!
Read Damon's full Guardian interview deeming the end of Blur HERE
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Orbit had previously hinted that he was recording with the band in a series of tweets. Back in January, he wrote: "I just found out that she [Diawara] has done tracks with Damon A, who I’m in the studio with from Wednesday!" He later added to the band's guitarist Graham Coxon: ‘Loving the guitars you laid down! Vocal session March 3!’, suggesting that the sessions?were with Blur and not one of Albarn's many side projects. 
