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Artist News
Damon hopes Blur is over, and reckons Gorillaz might be too
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 10 April 2012
Despite past indications from various members of the band that new Blur projects or recordings may occur at some point, Damon Albarn has now told The Guardian one last single release and a big gig for the Olympics will be it for the Britpop outfit.
Well, he said he “hoped” that would be it for his band, which provides a get out, I suppose. Cynics might wonder if the “final show ever” promise is designed to boost interest in the Olympics-closing Hyde Park show, featuring Blur, New Order and The Specials, which for many is one of a number of lacklustre line-ups provided by Britain’s festival promoters this year.
Commenting on their upcoming Olympics show Albarn told the paper: “I’ll give it 100%, like I did last time [we played Hyde Park]. And that’s it. And I hope that’s the truth: that that’s how we end it”.
While on the new single, ‘Under The Westway’ (which some might argue is in itself solid proof of why it’s definitely time for Blur to stop), he added: “We recorded it live. One take. It’s the first Blur song where it’s been one take, because previously I never finished the lyrics before we recorded. This time, I’d done that, so we were actually able to perform it. Which is quite nice, because I don’t really see any more recordings after this. So it’s nice to have finally done one song where we did it properly”.
And just in case you think that means Albarn will have more time to spend on Gorillaz, think again, because that project is at its end too. Well, it’s definitely on hiatus, seemingly because the cartoon band’s visuals man Jamie Hewlett has tired of the project, reckoning his input has become secondary to the music. Asked by The Guardian about the future of his other big project, Albarn continued: “Jamie [reckons it’s over], which is fair enough. I think we were at cross purposes somewhat on that last record, which is a shame. So until a time comes when that knot has been untied…”
