The Magic Whip

As one of the few Blur fans not fervently salivating at the prospect of a reunion and a new album I have to question whether I am a Blur fan at all. So I sat down to The Magic Whip with an appropriate degree of intrigue for someone who knows... maybe ten Blur songs.  


You know the one with Phil Daniels talking about the "pigeons and sparras"? Haha. WOOHOO.
Coming about via a stroke of luck bit of downtime between dates in China/Indonesia, their first album with the original contingent since 1999 and 13 was written and recorded in Honk Kong - Asian influence is apparent particularly in the back half of the collection (and the album artwork...).

So, here is a short commentary on a few favourite tracks on the album, from the viewpoint of a Albarn layman not versed in the Tender intricacies of the London (almost) quartet. The opener, Lonesome Street, is definitely a Blur track. An upbeat morning skip along to rolling guitar work and synth accentuating vocal hoohooing. It's a nice nostalgic nod to the britpop early days from where Blur began their dynasty and has enough mood changes to be an advocate of the album to come - as the Blur catalogue seems to come with an equal share of fast and Mellow Songs.

Go Out is the first track I heard from The Magic Whip, seen played live on Jools Holland. The performance had all the energy and swagger expected from a group of forty-somethings trying their best to pretend the last fifteen years had not aged them at all - Alex James still pouts like he is twenty. That said, Go Out is a bolshy plod with the chaps and is one of my favourites on the album.

The role of 'mid album statement track' must belong to Thought I Was A Spaceman - also performed on Jools. The journey through space and electronic synth mastery was only ever going to draw comparisons with Bowie, but is worthy of this praise - though I do feel it lacks real crescendo and therefore could do with being a minute or two shorter.  I have read content comparing this album respectfully to an amalgam of all things Albarn, and this track definitely had a Gorillaz feel about it. Next, I Broadcast brings the pressure back up as one of the faster and more fun songs of the album and is again reminiscent of the few older and rockier songs I know and like.

Did you know that There's No Other Way was one of Kurt Cobain's favourite songs when he died. so there's a thing.

My Terracotta Heart is just lovely. a really delicate pluck through the high end of the fretboard - though no doubt Coxon looks his usual gormless self during performance. There Are Too Many Of Us has been included as a not subtle political commentary about overcrowding (in London perhaps) and mirrors Albarn's need to spread his wings and get away East. This makes the step to Ghost Ship practically seamless as he makes it to Hong Kong (its all in the lyrics). Ghost Ship might the song of the album for me - a funky fairground foray that I could happily listen to on repeat as a bob around the house in my pants. I'm not though, honestly.

From this point on the album, as many do, takes a more sombre turn towards denouement. Pyongyang and Ong Ong suggest pictures of the perfect eastern paradise at dusk. This is usually the point I would get bored listening to a fifty minute album, but there is something captivatingly resilient about this section of the album. The splashy ride cymbal is companion to rounding layers of vocals and keys as Pyongyang fades away.

It is clear from the first listen (though I enjoyed the second listen more) that the eagerly awaited LP is packed full of nostalgia and there are songs on it that sound like they could slot into other Blur age. So in that sense, it is a successful return release for the Mockneys that I am sure has left those thirsty Blur zealots satisfied. I would love to hear your opinions. 

I think I might be a Blur fan - its not too late is it?

I wonder when Blur met Dr House?