Blur The Ballad of Darren 180g LP

Rolling Stone 100 Best Albums of 2023 - Rated 70/100!

Produced by James Ford and recorded at Studio 13, London and Devon, The Ballad of Darren is Blur's ninth studio album, their first since the chart-topping The Magic Whip in 2015, with artwork featuring an image by British photographer Martin Parr.

"This is an aftershock record, reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now." - Blur's Damon Albarn

"The older and madder we get, it becomes more essential that what we play is loaded with the right emotion and intention. Sometimes just a riff doesn't do the job." - Blur's Graham Coxon

"For any long term relationship to last with any meaning you have to be able to surprise each other somehow and somehow we all continue to do that." - Blur's Alex James

"It always feels very natural to make music together. With every record we do, the process reveals something new and we develop as a band. We don't take that for granted." - Blur's Dave Rowntree

Since announcing their arrival with debut album Leisure in 1991, Blur went on to revolutionize the sound of English popular music with six successive UK #1 albums Parklife (1994), The Great Escape (1995), Blur (1997), 13 (1999), Think Tank (2003) and The Magic Whip (2015) and a string of Top 10 singles, including two No. 1's with "Country House" and "Beetlebum," helping to propel the band to mass popularity at home and abroad. One of the biggest British bands of the last three decades, Blur have released eight studio albums and collected ten NME Awards, six Q Awards, five BRIT Awards and an Ivor Novello Award, and played live to thousands of devoted fans across the globe.

Our first preview of the album is 'The Narcissist.' It's a super straightforward midtempo pop-rock song that absolutely sounds like Blur, and I love it.

...an album that feels age-appropriate without being stodgy: it's mature and nuanced, cherishing the connections that once were taken for granted but now seem precious.