Blur
The Ballad Of Darren

Damon Albarn has described this new "The Ballad Of Darren" as the first true Blur album in the strict sense since the times of "13".

And, in a certain sense, it is an apt description. "Think Tank" from 2003 suffered from the lack of a cornerstone like Graham Coxon (present only in "Battery In Your Leg" within the main album tracklist), the great return with "The Magic Whip" in 2015 (although good) was born from a session in the East developed only by Coxon, Rowntree, and James who then presented the material to Albarn, who completed it with not much conviction.

In the case of this ninth album, instead, the four Londoners locked themselves together in the studio, and have worked and contributed to as many as twenty-four ideas conceived by Albarn during the last tour of his other most prominent project, the Gorillaz. Inspired by a mural depicting one of his great idols, Leonard Cohen, the good Damon chiseled a series of tracks to be entrusted in the production room to the very in-demand James Ford, author and inspirer of the divisive new sound of another heavyweight of British rock, the Arctic Monkeys.

Ford is not a new name for half of Blur, having already worked on "The Now Now" by the same Gorillaz and on the new project by Graham Coxon, The Waeve. Therefore, starting from a largely familiar face, to perfect the sound of an album almost completely detached from the previous work, which increasingly assumes the characteristics of a standalone episode in the marvelous discography of the band. This is how the first single "The Narcissist" immediately sets the right coordinates, perfectly hitting the target and delivering yet another great classic to the band's discography; the sounds are perfect and balanced, Coxon's guitar draws simple trajectories oriented to the much-loved '90s alt-rock (echoes of the more mellow Pumpkins are not long in appearing), Albarn seals it all with yet another memorable vocal melody.

The second single "St. Charles Square" is the occasion to fully shine the guitar of a Coxon who looks at Bowie's "Scary Monsters" dressing for the occasion as Fripp, turning the clock back to the times of "Modern Life Is Rubbish". However, it is the only nostalgic flicker of the album, because for the rest of the tracklist, the tones are composed and tastefully played; the favorite format is the ballad, as well laid down by the opener "The Ballad", the finished and refined version of "Half A Song" included in Albarn's solo debut, "Democrazy" from 2003. Here that old, superb demo is enriched by the rest of the band, which builds a melodically impeccable and tastefully arranged ballad.

"Barbaric" is a potential hit even in 2023, and not by chance was chosen as the third single, given the incredible coexistence of a vaguely à la Gorillaz beat that marries with an exquisitely Brit melody. "Russian Strings", anticipated live already in some dates before the release, goes really close to the latest Arctic Monkeys sound, effectively sealing a "handover" already made by Albarn in some interviews ("they are the best guitar band around today").

There are also moments that draw from the side activities of the other band members: incursions into an intimacy already experimented by Albarn in his latest solo episode ("The Everglades – For Leonard", "Far Away Island", "Avalon"), typically Coxonian guitar strokes ("Goodbye Albert", one of the absolute peaks of the album), while the much nostalgically evoked Britpop only appears at the end.

The task of closing is indeed entrusted to "The Heights”, which opens with well-defined and clean acoustic guitars (Bowie again, this time on the "Space Oddity" side); at the moment of take-off, in a triumph of the most Brit sounds possible, Blur drown everything under an almost annoying layer of noise. A bit like saying: guys, that party is over, but something new and exciting has begun, despite everything. The hope is that it won't be necessary to wait another eight years.

Long live Blur.

Best track: Goodbye Albert