Damon Albarn: Last News

Blur have shed insight into the cover for their latest album ‘The Ballad Of Darren’, as has the artist and the swimmer captured in the image.The Britpop legends shared the update on their social media pages yesterday (August 21), celebrating one month since their ninth studio album was released.With the Instagram post, the band’s frontman, Damon Albarn, and drummer Dave Rowntree both shared their interpretation behind the cover, and revealed how it has a connection to one of their 1995 live performances.The post began with a brief clip of someone holding the album out, before dropping it down to reveal that they are standing in the same spot where the now-famous image was taken – the Gourock Outdoor Pool in Glasgow.“The image selected for the album’s artwork is one shot by British photographer Martin Parr of a lone swimmer on a stormy day at the Gourock Lido, Scotland, captured in 2004,” the second slide reads, also incorporating a quote from the artist himself.“It was in the summer and you have the blue of the lido but there was the grey sky so familiar in Scotland,” Parr explained, revealing the inspiration behind the photograph. “I thought this was going to be a great backdrop.

Blur have shared a new unreleased track titled ‘Sticks And Stones’ from their latest album ‘The Ballad Of Darren‘.The track follows the band’s two other releases, ‘The Rabbi’ and ‘The Swan’, released as part of the album’s deluxe edition. ‘Sticks And Stones’ will be released as a bonus track for the Japanese exclusive edition of ‘The Ballad Of Darren’.Guitarist Graham Coxon provides lead vocals on the track.

Blur‘s Damon Albarn has hit out at AI, branding it “absurd”.He criticised covers of the band’s hits featuring AI versions of Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble and Snoop Dogg.Albarn told The Sun: “It’s absurd. Anyone who has so much time to sing songs through a Michael Buble filter and put them on the internet is a fucking idiot.

Coronation Street star Georgia Taylor jokingly mocked her own holiday appearance which prompted a response from her co-star before she was seen alongside her on-screen ex who is now her real life beau.

Blur bassist Alex James played to the band's biggest-ever crowds at Wembley this summer - but he says it was nothing compared to raising five children.The 54-year-old shares Geronimo, 19, twins Artemis and Galileo, 17, and daughters Sable, 14, and 13-year-old Beatrix with his wife Claire Neate, and the whole family live on a 200-farm in Oxfordshire. As of Beatrix's birthday in June, Alex is now officially the dad of five teenagers, all of whom were at home when OK! visited his farm for a sneak peek at his life off-stage. "“Playing bass in a rock band is the easiest f*****g job in the world,” he told us.

Blur‘s Damon Albarn has shared his love for Arctic Monkeys‘ Alex Turner, saying he sings “a lot like him” on the band’s new album.Albarn and his band released new LP ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ this month, their first since 2015’s ‘The Magic Whip’.In a new interview with Musikexpress, Albarn has discussed his admiration for Turner, and how he influenced the Britpop heroes’ new album.Asked what he thinks of Turner, Albarn responded: “I think he’s great, I sing a lot like him on the new album.“You know our producer James Ford?” the frontman added. “He also worked with the Arctic Monkeys, I mentioned that to him.

Blur debuted new songs from their latest album ‘The Ballad Of Darren‘ along with a smattering of deep cuts and fan favourites at an intimate show at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith last night (Tuesday July 25). Check out footage and the setlist below.As announced earlier this month, the returning Britpop veterans took to the stage at the iconic London venue to perform their new album in its entirety, with the show also livestreamed online.The band took to the stage, backed by string quartet, with bassist Alex James lounging on a sofa and smoking as they eased into playing album opener ‘The Ballad’.

Blur have shared two new songs that are featured in the deluxe version of their latest LP ‘The Ballad Of Darren’. Listen to them below.The two new tracks, ‘The Rabbi’ and ‘The Swan’, both have that signature Blur sound with the latter being a mellow ballad and ‘The Rabbi’ being a bright, upbeat song.

Bombay Bicycle Club have teamed up with Holly Humberstone on their latest track ‘Diving’ from their forthcoming album.According to a press release, the collaboration stemmed from Humberstone asking the band’s frontman Jack Steadman to work on some writing for her own music. Knowing that Humberstone was a fan of the band, they knew who to ask when they needed someone to accompany Steadman on the track.“’Diving’ is a song about that summer you have when you’re 15, the memory of which conjures up such a unique feeling,” said Steadman.

Blur performed a special gig at the BBC Radio Theatre for Radio 2 last night (July 18) – debuting new song ‘Barbaric’, showcasing their new album ‘The Ballad Of Darren‘ and inviting Phil Daniels on-stage for ‘Parklife’. Check out photos, footage and the setlist below.Following on from playing to 90,000 fans per night at their two massive Wembley Stadium shows last week, the Britpop heroes returned to the capital to perform a much more intimate show for just 300 lucky competition winners and media.

Blur’s Dave Rowntree has shared his opinion of Labour leader Keir Starmer in a new interview with NME.The Britpop veteran was taking part in the latest installation of NME’s Does Rock N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! series when he was asked to recall key moments from throughout his career, including his work in politics.Alongside his role as the drummer for Blur, Rowntree has also had a successful career in politics throughout much of the 21st Century – even going as far as to be elected as a Labour Councillor in Norfolk in 2017.Now, following his time in the role, which came to an end in 2021, the musician revealed his thoughts on current Labour leader, Keir Starmer.“Well, the test is at General Elections,” he began, discussing how well he thinks the figurehead is faring with the public. “If he wins the General Election, he’ll be widely touted as the most visionary Labour leader of modern times and will join the incredibly small number of Labour leaders who’ve gone on to become prime minister.”“If he loses, he’ll be regarded as an idiot who wrecked the Labour Party and achieved nothing,” he continued.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn has said that he believes the “road is clear” for an Oasis reunion.Back in May this year, Albarn said that he would “put money” on his band’s ’90s Britpop rivals reuniting.His comments came as Blur themselves began their own comeback tour in their hometown of Colchester.“I can guarantee they’re going to reform,” Albarn told The Sun of the chances of the Gallaghers putting their ongoing feud to bed. “In fact, I’ve put money on it.”In a new interview with Consequence, Albarn elaborated on his previous speculation about the possibility of a reunion.“Well, of course they were gonna.

The Hives have called their recent tour mates Arctic Monkeys “the only good really popular band” in a new interview with NME.The Swedish group supported the Sheffield band on their recent UK stadium tour, with drummer Matt Helders calling them “so much fun to watch” last year.Speaking to NME for the latest interview in the In Conversation video series, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist responded to other comments from Helders, in which he cited The Hives as one of Arctic Monkeys first real inspirations. “They told us that the first week or month that they started the band, they saw The Hives and The Strokes and that was the thing that really started it off for them,” the frontman said.“We toured with them in South America about 10 years ago and had a great time, so I’m really happy they wanted us back.

Damon Albarn has revealed that he is currently working on an opera, putting Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s ‘The Magic Flute Part II’ to music for the first time.Von Goethe started writing the libretto for a sequel to Mozart’s 1791 opera in the mid-1790s, which he then published in 1807. But it was never actually completed or set to music, a task Albarn has now taken on more than 200 years later.“I’m doing an opera at the moment, using Goethe’s fragment he wrote about ‘The Magic Flute Part II’, which is fascinating”, he explained on a new episode of the Broken Record podcast. “You’ve heard of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’? Well, Goethe, who is a contemporary of Mozart, wrote ‘Part II’ of that – the sequel – but it never got put to music.

Damon Albarn has shared that he believes Arctic Monkeys are “the last great guitar band,” adding that guitar music has gone “sterile”.While appearing on the Broken Record podcast, the Blur frontman discussed the state of guitar music. Though he said he remained optimistic about the future of the genre, Albarn believed it went through a rough patch before its reinvention.“I feel like there’s a bit more excitement about guitar music again, that can’t be a bad thing because it got so sterile.

Damon Albarn has revealed he is currently in the process of working on an opera as well as new music for Gorillaz.While appearing on the Broken Record Podcast, Albarn shared he is putting Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1807’s The Magic Flute Part II to music for the first time. The 1791 original was an opera in two acts to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder.“I’m doing an opera at the moment, using Goethe’s fragment he wrote about The Magic Flute Part II, which is fascinating,” he said.He continued: “You’ve heard of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’? Well, Goethe, who is a contemporary of Mozart, wrote ‘Part II’ of that — the sequel — but it never got put to music.

Blur have wrapped up the first of their highly anticipated reunion shows at Wembley – see their full setlist below.The first of two shows at Wembley took place last night (July 8) and saw Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree turn back the clock to play an assortment of their biggest hits – including one track they haven’t played since 1994.The stunning 25-song setlist would see Blur play ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘Tender’, ‘The Universal’ and of course, ‘Song 2’. They also performed ‘Lot 105’ for the first time since 1994.They also performed ‘Under The Westway’ live for the first time since 2014.

Blur have cancelled their upcoming headline slot at a French festival due to an injury. The news comes just days ahead of their upcoming shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.The returning Britpop veterans were set to play the set at Festival Beauregard this Thursday (July 6) – but according to an update from the festival’s official Twitter page, the band will no longer be performing drummer Dave Rowntree has suffered a knee injury.“The bad news has just fallen: Blur will not be able to perform their concert in Beauregard,” the update began (translated from French).

Damon Albarn has recalled the first time he showed his bandmates the demos for Blur’s upcoming album, and admitted he only wanted Graham Coxon to be in the studio at first.The singer-songwriter was speaking as part of a new interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, when he recalled what it was like reuniting with Blur and starting work on their new album, ‘The Ballad Of Darren’.According to Albarn, he began writing the demos for the new tracks before he gathered his bandmates together, but felt reluctant to show all of them at the same time.“When I finished the demos and I felt I’d got something I’m excited about, I got everyone into a studio in January this year. I just sort of sat them down and I said, ‘Right. This is what I’ve got.

Gorillaz have cancelled their upcoming US tour dubbed ‘The Getaway’, with ticket providers citing “scheduling conflicts”.The tour was announced only last month and was set to see the Damon Albarn-fronted cartoon band play four shows in support of their eighth and most recent album ‘Cracker Island’.Now, the September gigs have been cancelled, with ticket providers sharing a statement. “Due to scheduling conflicts and circumstances beyond our control, the previously announced Gorillaz shows in September have been cancelled,” they said.“Refunds will be issued automatically at your point of purchase and will be processed as quickly as possible, there is nothing further for you to do at this time.

Bombay Bicycle Club have announced their sixth studio album ‘My Big Day’ and released its title track.Produced by the band’s vocalist/guitarist Jack Steadman, ‘My Big Day’ features collaborations with Damon Albarn, Jay Som, Nilüfer Yanya and Holly Humberstone, with a fifth special guest set to release a song with the band later this summer.Bombay Bicycle Club also shared the album’s title track alongside an accompanying music video. Directed by Jon Higgs from Everything Everything and Kit Monteith (percussionist for Foals), the video showcases a local newscast covering some heavy-hitting news.The LP has additional production from Paul Epworth on the track ‘Heaven’ and Ben Allen who co-produced ‘Turn The World On’. The band previously worked with Allen on their hit single ‘Shuffle’ back in 2011.‘My Big Day’ was mixed by Dave Fridmann who is known for his work with The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, MGMT and HAIM.