Whilst you can hear many of those qualities as property, preliminary listens additionally had me wishing that The Ballad Of Darren hadn’t come collectively so shortly, that the band had pushed themselves to discover. That phrase “ballad” within the title needs to be taken significantly: In comparison with the vivid overflow of concepts on virtually each prior Blur album, it is a streamlined 36 minutes of Blur of their mellowest kind. Albarn’s melodies are fairly as ever, however in that sleepier temper of his latter-day work. Whereas the album’s complete existence is a shock, there aren’t any actual surprises musically. After eight years, it may well really feel a bit deflating at first, however the album additionally grows on you for those who can handle to reframe it in Blur’s catalogue. This may not attain for the stratospheric highs of their prime, however there’s one thing highly effective about them making sense of their connection at present with an album that’s by design much less sprawling and impressive.

With the band’s dedication to muted contemplation, they emerge with some beautiful little moments. “The Ballad” is a beautiful opener establishing the remainder of the album, whereas “Avalon” sits close to the top as a poignant reckoning for Albarn, reflecting on his transfer to the English coast and constructing a paradise however nonetheless searching for some sort of precise contentment. Whereas the uptempo songs don’t have the big-swing choruses we as soon as anticipated from Albarn, they every show to be sneaky earworms. “St. Charles Sq.” is not any “Bugman” however nonetheless interprets freakout in measured corrosion and Bowie-isms. Each “Barbaric” and “The Narcissist” are gliding, nimble songs — Blur’s Britpop weathered by time, however nonetheless delivered within the album’s heat, bummer seaside day sonic palette.

The Ballad Of Darren’s timbre makes quite a lot of sense once you pore over Albarn’s lyrics, that are affected by references to misplaced love, breakups, folks assembly way back now drifted aside. He opens “St. Charles Sq.” with “I fucked up/ I’m not the primary to do it/ Should forgo now, your smile.” In “Barbaric,” he pleads: “And I would really like for those who’ve bought the time/ To speak to you about what this breakup has performed to me/ I’ve misplaced the sensation that I assumed I’d by no means lose.” In “Russian Strings” he asks “The place are you now?” whereas fleeing to Belgrade to hit the laborious stuff and chain-smoke, earlier than he sings “Wishing I may nonetheless make you cheerful” in “Avalon.” Albarn has side-stepped questions on whether or not the lyrics are actually depicting a cut up together with his associate Suzi Winstanley, leaving the listener to wonder if the album could possibly be a much less drug-addled sequel to 13, a meditation on the friendships over time, or perhaps a meta-document of Blur’s personal peaks and valleys.

As sincere as the person members are concerning the issue of getting again collectively, there is an intimate sense of celebration on The Ballad Of Darren. The title is a reference to a long-time Blur crew member, who all the time hassled Albarn to complete “The Ballad” — a solo demo he first in the reduction of in 2003. Albarn considers the album a “household affair” — a real illustration of Blur as a bunch. Some songs use that as material, with very completely different views of onstage efficiency in “The Narcissist” and “The Heights.” The latter closes the album as a kind of love letter to music, followers, and the band’s personal wild journey. Then The Ballad Of Darren coasts out on a sudden crest of distortion, one in all its solely plot twists leaving any decision open-ended.

Blur’s albums was once kaleidoscopic visions of life in England, defining a decade and a complete pop motion. Of their fifties, they’d be silly to try to reclaim that mantle at present. So it might be unusual to come across this, their smallest and most contained album, as the following long-awaited comeback. The extra time you sit with it, The Ballad Of Darren begins to really feel like the precise kind of album they need to make in 2023: no bombastic resurrection, however a fond wave backwards whereas admitting the place they’re now. If there’s by no means one other Blur album, this one is a wistful epilogue. But it may well nonetheless go away you with the hope that after listening to all of the looking and craving in Albarn’s voice, he would possibly but discover what he’s on the lookout for alongside his previous associates.