31st January - from XFM.co.uk: BEHIND THE SCENES AT X: BLUR ALBUM SPECIAL Head of Music Andy Ashton brings you more of the backstage action at Xfm and reveals who’s been in recently, forthcoming releases making their way into the studio and his opinion on the tracks that are lighting up the Playlist. So good news for Blur fans, I've finally heard some of the new album. Kevin McCabe from Parlophone popped in early this week to play through a few future singles and to give us our first taste of the new Blur album (which is still untitled). The first to be completed with no discernable input from co founding guitarist and writer Graham Coxon. And that really is the first thing to say about this album, It really is the "Damon Albarn Album". So what does it sound like? Well…it’s a bit tricky to describe track by track as there are no titles revealed at this stage. It was more a case of “This one’s a Fatboy Slim one" and "This one isn’t a Fatboy one". Apparently two of the three tracks produced by Fatboy Slim make the album. I've heard one of them, so let’s start there. A very classic sounding Blur pop track, similar to ‘Song 2’ in the sense that it is custom built for radio. A driving dance tune with overdriven guitars compressed to bursting point. Norman’s production keeps it buzzing along like a chainsaw, very electric sounding with a hooky sample throughout. Although it sounds mega-tight they've managed to get a really nice loose and live feel as well, which is a bit weird as I read it back but you'll see what I mean. From there we listened to the first single, again annoyingly untitled as yet. This is more typical of the over all sound of the album. It begins with a sort of Delta Blues picking on steel string guitar (apparently played by Damon) and then its all lush melody / harmonies over a mid-paced blues type arrangement. The electronic feel continues with some striking electronic bursts. It is incredibly catching, kind of in the way a lot of the stuff from the ‘Mali Music’ album was. Very dreamy and almost gospel. In fact my first reaction was Industrial Gospel! And I've never said that before when listening to an album. The other two tracks I listened to in full were of a similar feel to single one. But a skip through the album revealed some pretty diverse stuff. Again the theme seems to be very organic acoustic sounds married with electronica that in places sounded like, believe it or not... Jean Michel Jarre! I kid you not! Well anyway I hope that’s given you a brief insight into what to expect from the new Blur. I like it, but it's more in the way I like Damon’s solo stuff than in the way I love Blur. Still does that really matter especially as Graham is perfectly free and capable to carry on making and releasing music. Hmmm, the jury is still out, but I reckon there’s a couple of bangers on there that could keep a smug grin on the Damon’s lips for a while yet. All good fun whatever happens. --

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