Blur surprised fans today by premiering a new song and announcing a new studio album, the band's first in 12 years. The album, The Magic Whip, was produced by Stephen Street and includes material the band recorded -- and scrapped -- in Hong Kong in 2013. Last spring, guitarist Graham Coxon contacted Damon Albarn last year to discuss whether any of the material could be salvaged for release, and not long afterwards Blur was back in action. Albarn told BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe that the reason the band stayed quiet about the album was because they didn't finish the record until yesterday:
"We finished mixing last Friday and we literally mastered it yesterday. The reason that we've kept it secret is because we didn't have a record until yesterday!"
The Magic Whip will be released on April 27th and is available to pre-order through Amazon and Blur's official store. Take a look at the official video for the new single "Go Out" below:
Published February 19th, 2015 @ 5:11 PM