Blur "The Magic Whip"

It's 2015 and there's a new Blur.  The forerunners of the spiraling Brit-pop explosion of the early nineties (alongside infamous rabblerousers, the Brothers Gallagher), Blur's 1991 debut "Leisure" broke the band into the BBC Radio mainstream like a fuse to a powder keg.  Enigmatic frontman Damon Albarn's melancholic musings on suburban drudgery and bratty nose-thumbing to Brittania traditionalism paired with the needlessly infectious hooks of founding member Graham Coxon made for a barnstorming pop powerhouse that chugged through seven well-received albums.  Outside of Blur, Albarn's kept busy with various side projects including Gorillaz and his own solo album this year- which makes you wonder, where does he find the time for another Blur album?

The answer: He's simply good at what he does.  Recorded over a short stretch of festival dates the band was playing amidst the summer of 2014, Blur (featuring the return of Coxon for the first time since his outing amidst the 2009 "Think Tank" sessions) have returned with "The Magic Whip".  Pensive and subdued, "Whip" plays cool and confidently; the sound of a band that has eased into its own self-awaredness with pomp and bravado.  The textures and production from years of record-foraging and sideprojects is there, but the fretwork is much more restrained than their younger years- this is a band that has come of age with grace and dignity.

Grab YOUR copy of Blur's "The Magic Whip" RIGHT HERE!