For anybody still pining for the heyday of Britpop, it's gotta be a thrill to see the classic BLUR logo on a new LP in 2023. We're excited to say this one lives up to that promise & then some. Dropping 8 years after their comeback 'The Magic Whip' (which was v. good but mostly just had a "Thanks for your patience, here's more Blur" vibe), 'The Ballad of Darren' finds the lads sounding more charged than they have since pre- GORILLAZ. The uptempo numbers have a post-punk energy that suggests inspo from recent contemporaries like IDLES & FONTAINES DC, and the more mellow cuts are elegiac & wistful (a la recent ARCTIC MONKEYS), making the whole affair feel like a graceful comedown from those glory days as they again carve out a space for themselves in today's scene. You can finally pull 'Parklife' from your disc-changer - this'll do the trick just fine. RECOMMENDED!

For anybody still pining for the heyday of Britpop, it's gotta be a thrill to see the classic BLUR logo on a new LP in 2023. We're excited to say this one lives up to that promise & then some. Dropping 8 years after their comeback 'The Magic Whip' (which was v. good but mostly just had a "Thanks for your patience, here's more Blur" vibe), 'The Ballad of Darren' finds the lads sounding more charged than they have since pre- GORILLAZ. The uptempo numbers have a post-punk energy that suggests inspo from recent contemporaries like IDLES & FONTAINES DC, and the more mellow cuts are elegiac & wistful (a la recent ARCTIC MONKEYS), making the whole affair feel like a graceful comedown from those glory days as they again carve out a space for themselves in today's scene. You can finally pull 'Parklife' from your disc-changer - this'll do the trick just fine. RECOMMENDED!

For anybody still pining for the heyday of Britpop, it's gotta be a thrill to see the classic BLUR logo on a new LP in 2023. We're excited to say this one lives up to that promise & then some. Dropping 8 years after their comeback 'The Magic Whip' (which was v. good but mostly just had a "Thanks for your patience, here's more Blur" vibe), 'The Ballad of Darren' finds the lads sounding more charged since they have since pre- GORILLAZ. The uptempo numbers have a post-punk energy that suggests inspo from recent contemporaries like IDLES & FONTAINES DC, and the more mellow cuts are elegiac & wistful (a la recent ARCTIC MONKEYS), making the whole affair feel like a graceful comedown from those glory days as they again carve out a space for themselves in today's scene. You can finally pull 'Parklife' from your disc-changer - this'll do the trick just fine. RECOMMENDED!