Blur
Under The Westway

THE REVIEW

2012, year of the London Olympics, what would have been the most fitting moment to announce the return of one of the most famous English bands to the stage? Indeed, the Blur, three years after their last shows (Hyde Park above all), return live to close the Olympic games of their beloved London.

Obviously, Damon Albarn could not miss the pinnacle (perhaps) of his career, without any new song to offer to the many spectators who will fill Hyde Park for the Olympic closing. Thus, "Under The Westway" and "The Puritan" are born, tracks that announced to the big audience their return to the music scene; in this case, however, I will only examine UTW to avoid going on too long. The song is a classic "Beatlesque" ballad, that winks a bit at those Blur of "The Great Escape" (obviously with the necessary proportions), where Damon's warm voice captivates at the first listen due to that intensity and "nasal" effect, which has won over many boys and girls in his career. Unlike many Blur songs (especially singles), this song is centered around the piano, an instrument that has rarely found much space in Blur, at the expense of Coxon's distorted guitars, strongly present from "Blur" to "Battery In Your Leg" (the only song of his from Think Tank, the last Blur album from 2003).

I don't know if there will be a follow-up to these latest releases, honestly I no longer understand what Blur wants to do, a band now stationary for 8 years in terms of production, but which nonetheless still has a huge hold on the public (I myself went to London in 2009). Will they decide to perform only occasionally or will they produce another album with an attached world tour? This is not for me, nor for us, to know. The only thing that remains is to listen to this beautiful song and hope for some news…