Blur - The Narcissist
Blur
The Narcissist
Blur return with a gorgeous song musically anchored in wistful nostalgia that sees the band sounding fresher than ever before, once again highlighting a band that only returns to the limelight when it feels natural.
Damon Albarn is one of the most prolific and significant songwriters in British music history. An unrelenting force, he’s kept himself incredibly busy in the now eight-year span between Blur albums. In that space, he’s released four Gorillaz albums, one with supergroup Good, Bad & Queen, one solo record created in Iceland and collaborated with countless global megastars.
You could argue or worry that someone with such vast output risks diluting their sound, but what makes Albarn so unique is his ability to create work that feels distinctive of the output he’s creating it under. His solo albums sound vastly different to the collaborative nature of the Gorillaz sound, and despite having a band-like structure it’s (excuse the pun), a different beast entirely to the work he’s created with Blur.
Of all the 90s bands stamped with the Britpop label, Blur was the one to consistently release the highest quality records whilst refusing to stand still or be defined by a singular sound. It’s the reason that when they surprised the world with a fully reunited lineup and ‘The Magic Whip’ in 2015 it sounded like nothing any of us had heard from the band, either before or since.
That record fused a blend of Albarn’s dystopian poetry with a grungelike distortion and sharp melancholy that represented a previously splintered relationship (that of Albarn and lead guitarist Graham Coxon) finding its way to repair.
So that brings us to 2023, surprise new single ‘The Narcissist’ taken from the forthcoming ninth album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’. Gone is the youthful and anti-establishment punk furore that cemented the group in the nineties, in its place, a beautiful contemplative ballad that looks reflectively on the band's past as well as optimistically towards its bright future. Whilst Albarn’s songwriting has matured, wistful recollections of acid trips gone by feel more in tune with his sombre solo work, Coxon’s trademark two-chord riff feels like a timeless and grounded accompaniment that puts the listener firmly in a ‘Blur’ state of mind.
Unlike their 2015 return which was absent in most parts of the melody, instead focusing on fuzzy experimental distortion. ‘The Narcissist’ is built upon a back-to-basic exemplary instrumental melody that builds slowly like a gentle wave, eventually erupting into an anthemic chorus, helped by call-and-response backing vocals tailor-made for their return to the stage.
What stops you so firmly in your tracks however is that this isn’t purely a bunch of men in their mid-fifties trying to sound like their youthful rambunctious selves, it’s rooted in the here and now. The fraught journey, and at times incredibly tense relationships between members fizzle ever so slightly underneath, so when Albarn's voice stretches triumphantly to reach the highs of the chorus and Alex James sprinkles a hint of bass across the bridge, everything feels in its right place.
Simply put, by acknowledging their current life circumstances with such a beautiful and poignant track, Blur has never sounded so full of life.
‘The Ballad of Darren’ by Blur will arrive July 21st, see order information and tour dates below. ‘The Narcissist’ is available on all streaming services now.
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