The new album is due next month and i've managed to hear it already!! It's very good. My favourite at the moment is Good Song. Here's the tracklist:

Ambulance
Out Of Time
Crazy Beat
Good Song
On The Way To The Club
Brothers And Sisters
Caravan
We've Got A File On You
Moroccan Peoples Revolutionary Bowls Club
Sweet Song
Jets
Gene By Gene
Battery In Your Leg.

I believe that Out Of Time is the first single and I would imagine that Crazy Beat will be the follow up. Beyond those two tracks there's nothing obvious for radio so it will be interesting to see the fate of the album!

Cloudbuster said:

Break it down, what's it like?

yes! tell us how it sounds!

this cd has been a looong time coming

endorphin74 said:

indeed way 2 long!

AMBULANCE: Kinda rattles along with an 80's-ish drum sound. Loose and funky with some brass stabs, heavy on synths. As if Damon is comparing his loved one to an ambulance! You know, as in she saved his life. All together now...Aah, bless.

Sample lyric: "I ain't got nothing to be scared of, 'cos I love you."

OUT OF TIME: Vague Eastern leanings. Obvious single. The verse has the kind of melody that A-ha would come up with yet still manages to retain the Blur sound.

Sample lyric: "Watch the world spinning gently out of time."

CRAZY BEAT: Punchy. Another obvious single. Sort of Song 2, part II although it sounds like Bugman in places also. Has simple "Yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain. The most Britpop sounding track.

GOOD SONG: Languid, has a sort of stoned ramshackle vibe. Has a pretty guitar figure running through it. Lyrics allude to escaping the city life. Some nice shimmering guitar in places. My fave!

Sample lyric: "You seem very beautiful to me."

ON THE WAY TO THE CLUB: Bass driven dub track with washes of synth. Towards the end has a Portishead trip-hop sound with discordant drum fills. Celebration/non-celebration of nightlife.

Sample lyric: "And I just want to be, darling, with you."

BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Bluesy, baggy feel like The Stone Roses meets the Happy Mondays. Anti-drug lyrics.

Sample lyric: "Rebuild your lives, we're all drug takers."

CARAVAN: Probably the album's most curious piece. Very melancholy. Meanders along, again with a stoned vibe.

Sample lyric: "Sometimes everything is easy."

WE'VE GOT A FILE ON YOU: Brief punk track. The only lyric being the title of the song! Eastern sounding backing on the intro. Fast and furious.

MOROCCAN PEOPLES REVOLUTIONARY BOWLS CLUB: Anti-war lyrics set to an almost Clash sounding tune! Upbeat fun track with all manner of sound effects. Possible single.

Sample lyric: "If we go and blow it up, surely we will dissapear."

SWEET SONG: Piano driven lovely ballad. May well be Damon's best love song yet. After a few listens it reveals itself to be another possible single. Very mellow tune with references to songs by both George Harrison and John Lennon in the lyrics. Quite beautiful.

Sample lyric: "People get so lonely."

JETS: Another curious piece. Again the entire song has only one lyric; "Jets are like comets at sunset." Starts with a blues-like riff before a beat kicks in that carries the tune along with occasional breaks. A sax enters for the last two minutes. One you'll probably either love or hate!

GENE BY GENE: Not got this one!

BATTERY IN YOUR LEG: An almost funeral paced finale occasionally drenched in guitar and synth effects under-pinned with some lovely piano work. Starts off a little bit like Prince's Condition Of The Heart! The only track to feature ex-guitarist Graham Coxon.

Sample lyric: "This is a ballad for the good times."


Hidden Track - MY WHITE NOISE: Lengthy beat driven track that goes rather mad on the choruses aided by a ton of vocal effects. Gets you tapping your foot whether you like it or not. There's some bongos in there as well.

Sample lyric: "I'm here because I've got no fucking choice."


So, overall then, it's too soon to say whether it's their best album but it's definately a great one, proving that Blur are still capable of persuing new territory and manage to do it well. It'll take a few spins (like Blur and 13) before it slowly reveals its charms. More accessible if rather less compelling than their last rather tangled album, 13. A mixed musical bag that's brilliantly executed and containing more singles than it first appears. A real grower.
[This message was edited Fri May 9 11:35:29 PDT 2003 by Cloudbuster]

IMHO "13" proved to be unlistenable after a while (save for "Tender" and "Coffee & TV" Now I don't expect a Parklife Part 2 but would like them to be a little less arty (And Damon to stop whining like on that Gorillaz song.. I ain't happaaay... I got sunshaaayne etc.)

Thank you for the rundown!

I'll agree that the majority of 13 has become unlistenable to me. Tender, Coffee and TV, Trimm Trabb and No Distance Left To Run are prolly the only tracks I've listened to in the last year. I have enjoyed a lot of Damon's work with the Gorillaz, though, it was a bit more fun than recent Blur work...

YAAAY for the new album, I can't wait!

I love 13! Soz.

That's right I forgot about "No Distance"... duckin' great song, very moving.





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I'll agree that the majority of 13 has become unlistenable to me. Tender, Coffee and TV, Trimm Trabb and No Distance Left To Run are prolly the only tracks I've listened to in the last year. I have enjoyed a lot of Damon's work with the Gorillaz, though, it was a bit more fun than recent Blur work...

Cloudbuster said:

I really enjoyed it for a while, maybe I've just forgotten about it. In celebration of Think Tank, I'll give 13 a couple spins this week...

endorphin74 said:

Nice one.

I tried to download the tracks and none of them worked! instead I just got 30second intros to each song that faded out...grrr...

ps...I didgive 13 a spin this weekend, and I enjoyed it a lot, I think I gave up on it too early!

endorphin74 said:

I must admit that the first time I heard 13 I thought it was a dreadful mess! After a few spins tho' it really started to reveal itself in all its twisted glory. I still think that Battle and Mellow song are two of the loveliest tunes to get to.

PARTY OVER, OOPS

I heard Out of Time a few weeks back and found it gloomily atmospheric with it's mopy bassline. Appealing...

The record was reportedly made in Mali so it'll be interesting to discover which direction the band have taken their sound.

My two kobo


PS: WOW! 'The Music: Non-Prince' forum - my are you a sight for sore eyes!

I kinda grewup listening to Blur since the first album and I'm kinda down that Graham is no longer part of Blur.. I hope they settle up someday and make an album, I suppoze they may, sounds like it was bitter but they are kinda like brothers bashing it out. btw the Gorillaz are great live! Well I will make sure to checkout the new Blur cd when its out here in US.