SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

The British band Blur, led by singer-songwriter Damon Albarn, has been round for over 30 years. However NPR music contributor Matthew Perpetua says the band’s newest album, “The Ballad Of Darren,” is all about the place Albarn and the band stand right now.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLUR SONG, “ST. CHARLES SQUARE”)

MATTHEW PERPETUA, BYLINE: Blur have been one of many largest Britpop bands of the Nineteen Nineties, together with Oasis and Pulp and The Verve. They form of exemplify the Britpop style or the challenge or this – nevertheless you’d wish to loosely determine, like, all these bands that have been form of hitting huge in England on the identical time within the mid-’90s.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ST. CHARLES SQUARE”)

BLUR: (Singing) I [expletive] up. I am not the primary to do it.

PERPETUA: However the tone of this document, it is extra of a lived-in form of unhappiness. And it is fairly clear that Damon Albarn has gone by means of a breakup, and plenty of these songs are alluding to that however, you recognize, not sufficient particulars to form of make it, you recognize, one thing you actually need to dig into. It is simply extra you get that he is gone by means of one thing fairly tough. However you can too inform that it is from the angle of somebody who’s gone by means of issues earlier than.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ST. CHARLES SQUARE”)

BLUR: (Singing) Ooh, do not depart me right here, child. Do not depart me utterly.

PERPETUA: “St. Charles Sq.” – it has a really David Bowie feeling, however not essentially just like the David Bowie lots of people take into consideration. It is extra just like the David Bowie of perhaps, like, the final 10 years or so of his profession, the place he sounds older. And Damon Albarn has, you recognize, form of used David Bowie as a reference level prior to now, however I believe not a lot in the best way he sings. So I believe proper in that music he form of takes on that form of like – it is form of a deep baritone, nevertheless it additionally sounds a bit manic.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ST. CHARLES SQUARE”)

BLUR: (Singing) As a result of there’s one thing down right here, and it is residing below the floorboards.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THE NARCISSIST”)

BLUR: (Singing) Appeared within the mirror. So many individuals standing there. I walked in direction of them into the floodlights…

PERPETUA: “The Narcissist” – it has form of a ragged magnificence to it. It sounds just like the constructive aspect of getting gone by means of issues earlier than, having handled traumas and moved by means of them, the place you may form of hear a hope in his voice that he can change, that issues will get higher that I do not assume would actually come by means of within the music that they’d made prior to now. His lyrics are typically very cynical and unfavourable. And form of listening to him have this hope in his voice, even when it isn’t, like, the strongest hope on this planet, feels very uplifting in context for him and for Blur. It form of communicates this hope and therapeutic.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THE NARCISSIST”)

BLUR: (Singing) I will be shining gentle in your eyes.

PERPETUA: The factor I actually discover compelling about “The Ballad Of Darren” is that it is actually unapologetic about coming from a middle-aged standpoint and, you recognize, form of understands that to age gracefully as an artist, you form of want to supply your listeners a perspective that they could not provide once they have been youthful.

I believe there is a tendency for some artists to attempt to reconnect with, you recognize, how they felt or how they carried out once they have been youthful. They usually’re not attempting to try this. They’re simply attempting to be precisely who they’re on this second in time. It is a document that was written and recorded solely in 2023, so it truly is a snapshot of a band that appears fairly glad to be doing what they’re doing and grateful for what they’ve collectively.

DETROW: That was NPR music contributor Matthew Perpetua. Blur’s new album, “The Ballad Of Darren,” is out now. That is NPR Information.

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