Dave Rowntree has mirrored on Blur’s discography, and named the album he thinks is the band’s strongest “by quite a long way”.
During a brand new interview the drummer had with Super Deluxe Edition, the drummer seemed again on the large milestones the band have accrued over the previous 12 months – together with their two huge exhibits at London’s Wembley Stadium, and the discharge of their model new documentary, Blur: To The End.
In the dialogue, Rowntree elaborated on how the members took an identical method to their reunion exhibits as they did on their newest album, 2023’s ‘The Ballad Of Darren’.
“There was a conscious decision to strip things back, both on the tour and ‘The Ballad Of Darren’. In the shows, we didn’t have a string section and we only had a choir on ‘Tender’,” he defined.
“We didn’t have brass or the other things that make a bigger sound and can artificially enhance everything. There’s nothing wrong with that and we’ve done it in the past, but we took the decision not to do that this time. We wanted to say those things in other ways, so there was lots more singing, trying to find other ways of filling out the sound to make it bigger.”
This – paired with a way of “anxiety” about going into the studio for the primary time since their 2015 album ‘The Magic Whip’ – helped make the challenge into what he sees as their finest thus far.
“I’m so disparaging when other musicians of a certain age say this of their recent work, but I think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, and by quite a long way,” Rowntree continued.
“But I’m very well aware most middle-aged popstars think their latest album is their best work by far, and that most of them are deluding themselves. I’ll be guided by what other people think.”
He added: “There are certainly some great immediate songs on it. I heard Tom Robinson talk about being out of the spotlight for a long time and how his main anxiety in making a new record was still being able to write songs that people liked on the first listen. One of our selling points is that you can play one of our records and immediately go: ‘Oh, I like that a lot.’ Some bands lose that and they suffer as a result.”
Around the time of its launch, NME gave ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ a glowing four-star overview, and praised the band for not enjoying it protected of their method. “Unlike many of their peers, there has never been a timelessness to a Blur album – that’s a good thing,” it learn.
“When you listen to ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ now, you can feel disdain for the culture that surrounded them, or the raw confusion of heartbreak on 1999’s ‘13’; they have a way of transporting you to a precise moment or emotion. It’s why ‘The Ballad of Darren’ is so memorable and touching: you can feel it, everything, in every line sung or note played.”
More not too long ago, the To The End documentary was given a five-star overview, with NME writing: “They bicker, they hug, they name one another c**ts, they get the job achieved. While Blur’s final doc and accompanying reside film No Distance Left To Run was a portrait of a band celebrating their legacy and giving a nostalgia-hungry world precisely what they craved, this religious sequel exhibits a band merely supporting one another.
“Whether they return again or not remains to be seen. But even if they don’t, this was one hell of a final fling.”
“Albarn remains a top-tier frontman, making deadpan remarks and climbing into the audience while still allowing each of his bandmates their own moment in the spotlight,” it learn. “This cheeky sense of humour made Blur stand out from other Britpop stars in the 90s, and Albarn’s childish grin as he performs the song – like he’s doing something naughty – remains the same after all these years.”
Last month, the director of To The End additionally spoke to NME in regards to the emotional course of of constructing the movie – and mentioned what the long run would possibly maintain for the band.
“I found out that Blur were coming back in a slightly unconventional way, in that I’ve been doing projects with Damon and Graham over the last few years via my record label, Transgressive,” he stated. I used to be really at Damon’s 13 Studios to speak a few utterly totally different challenge, when out of the blue he stated, ‘Oh, do you want to hear the new Blur demos?’ I assumed he was joking however he had that barely cheeky glint in his eye that he’s identified for.”
He added: “Around that time, we were tipped off that there was going to be a Wembley show – and at the time it was only intended to be one gig – and my company were asked to make this trailer for it in a short space of time. It was then I said to Damon, ‘If you want anyone to film and capture the concert then I would love to throw my hat in the ring’… As I got deeper, I realised it wasn’t just about a reunion – I realised it was about friendship, maturing, reconciliation and some splashes of mortality!”
The way forward for Blur at this level stays considerably unsure, with Albarn not too long ago saying that the band’s present at weekend two of Coachella 2024 would “probably [be] our last gig”. However, since then, Rowntree has thrown doubt on the feedback, and steered that there should be extra to return from the group.
“There’s still tons of stuff we could do… It’s about finding an offer that’s very hard to say no to,” he stated. “When we first got back together in 2009, we were very happy to be the first people to play what has become the British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park. Then we were asked to headline the party to end the 2012 Olympics, and you can’t say no to that.”
“So there’s absolutely no reason why we couldn’t consider another interesting idea, if we’re all available,” he added. “But there’s absolutely nothing in the diary for Blur at the moment.”
What is confirmed for now could be that the band will quickly be releasing a live performance movie of the Wembley gigs, titled Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium. It’ll arrive in cinemas throughout the UK and Ireland on September 6.