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UNBELIEVABLE: 7 - The Untold Story

Blank space: how Taylor Swift – and an aching sense of loss – dominated music in 2023

Away from Swift’s joyous, record-breaking successes, the year’s most acclaimed albums were concerned with death and absence

The Guardian - UK

The 50 best albums of 2023, No 8 – Blur: The Ballad of Darren

Blur’s ninth album is a perfect combination of middle-aged regret with swooning pop, a powerful career summation

The Guardian - UK

Blur's Damon Albarn takes swipe at Rolling Stones and their new album Hackney Diamonds

Blur frontman says he can find "no joy" in Rolling Stones' new album and slams their promotional tactics

Louder

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Damon Albarn slams The Rolling Stones and their new album Hackney Diamonds: “Making exactly the same music but not that good. There must be no joy in doing something like this"

“I love the idea of devoting your life to one thing, in search of the sublime. But the truth is, they’ve become worse”

MusicRadar

Gregor Gall: In search of protest songs as popular music leaves a void

‘TOO many protest singers/Not enough protest songs.” So sang Scots former Orange Juice frontperson, Edwyn Collins, on his 1994 hit single, A…

The National (Scotland)

Bukayo Saka, Rachel Weisz, Damon Albarn and Iris Law take to London's streets for Burberry

Stars strew London’s streets for Burberry’s Spring 2024 campaign

Evening Standard

“Forget grunge music. Get a pint of Guinness down your neck and pick that guitar up”: The rise and fall of Britpop, the Nineties’ other massive guitar movement

The UK got its guitar mojo back in the ’90s with a new generation of rock and indie bands. This is the story of how it all got consumed by the rivalry between Blur and Oasis, and the catch-all category of Britpop

Guitar World

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Bombay Bicycle Club: ‘People were still calling us landfill indie’

Now comfortably in their second-era stride, Noughties indie rock’s most celebrated escapees talk to Mark Beaumont about class, Keir Starmer, and getting Damon Albarn to noodle around on their new album

The Independent UK

The rise of the ladorables

Toxic masculinity this is not, says Emily Phillips. Meet the lads giving us new hope for mankind(ness)

Evening Standard

Liam Gallagher review – when he does eventually smile, it’s perfect

The reliably aloof ex-Oasis frontman mixes old favourites and (Oasis-y-sounding) solo anthems – and fuels speculation about a reunion

The Guardian - UK

Three tracks a day, no crazy kit or plugins: why the Ballad of Darren is "the first real Blur album in 20 years"

Blur's latest long player had them "feeling like a band of brothers again"

MusicRadar

15 best Gorillaz tracks to test your system

We’ve curated the finest tracks from the most successful virtual band ever so that you can get the best out of your hi-fi.

What Hi-Fi?

Blur: The Ballad of Darren review – mature melancholia spiked with adventure

Comparing it to a surprise baby, late-life Blur’s ninth album finds them on eloquent, emotional form, casting a wistful eye over past glories while pushing forward musically

The Guardian - UK

Blur - The Ballad of Darren album review: Mature sound suits the Blur of 2023

Blur’s first album in eight years has an unhurried, melancholy, sophisticated feel

Evening Standard

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MusicRadar

Blur's Graham Coxon: "The Coffee + TV chord shapes are just ridiculous"

"That’s another case of me making life very difficult for myself!”

The Guardian - UK

Blur: The Ballad of Darren review – middle-age regrets voiced in gorgeous tunes

Nostalgic melancholy fills Blur’s ninth studio release, a courageous album that shows the band have something germane to say about getting old

The Independent UK

Blur review, The Ballad of Darren: The band’s best record since 1999

Songs that elevate Damon Albarn’s suburban tristesse into moments of sheer ecstasy

Louder

A beginner’s guide to Britpop in five essential albums

It was an indie phenomenon that changed everything: here’s five classic records that defined Britpop

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MusicRadar

Blur's Damon Albarn: "For me, the last great guitar band was Arctic Monkeys"

But he's optimistic about guitar music again

Louder

"It’s the most shambolic performance by Blur possible": Watch Blur perform on Italian TV with a cardboard cut-out of guitarist Graham Coxon

No Graham Coxon? No Alex James? No problem for Blur

Guitar World

Are Arctic Monkeys “the last great guitar band”? Blur’s Damon Albarn sure thinks so

That said, the Blur frontman voiced his optimism for a new age of guitar bands – and name-dropped the artists that he thinks are rejuvenating the genre

Louder

Blur's Damon Albarn pins Arctic Monkeys as "the last great guitar band", says no band has been as good as them since

Blur frontman Damon Albarn thinks there's increasing "excitement" for guitar bands, but believes the sound grew "sterile" after Arctic Monkeys

Daily Mirror

I saw Blur at Wembley and saw four 'ridiculous old men' put on the show of their lives

Blur are clearly hyped for their first London show since 2015 with guitarist Graham Coxon clenching his fists and screaming ‘come on’ as he walks on stage at Wembley

Evening Standard

Blur at Wembley Stadium review: fizzed with the vibrant energy of a band in their prime

It was a set full of twists and turns: big populist hits cut with strange idiosyncratic oddities and true emotional heft

The Guardian - UK

Blur review – glorious reunion buzzes with energy and ragged joy

The enduring friendship between Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree shines through in a set that veers from lairy capers to bittersweet ballads

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