The band Blur is going on another hiatus after a brief reunion tour, as frontman Damon Albarn admits it’s “too much.” The band—Albarn and members Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree—released their first album since 2015, The Ballad of Darren, in July 2023 and have been touring in support of the album, recently concluding a run of shows in South America.
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Speaking with French magazine Les Inrockuptibles for their December 2023 issue, Albarn admitted that it’s time to “wrap up this campaign,” as he claimed putting out music for both Blur and Gorillaz has been taxing. “It’s amazing to have two huge bands, it allows you to make things twice,” he said. “But it is time to wrap up this campaign. It’s too much for me. It was the right thing to do and an immense honour to play these songs again, spend time with these guys, make an album … I’m not saying I won’t do it again, it was a beautiful success, but I’m not dwelling on the past.”
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Albarn is apparently looking toward what he can accomplish in the future with new projects as opposed to living in the shadow of his old bands. In connection to his statement, when asked about the lasting legacy of the Rolling Stones and whether or not he’d be up on billboards at 80 years old reliving past successes, Albarn replied, “There’s no chance and I’ll tell you why. I did all sorts of things, whereas they’ve never been anything other than the Rolling Stones. I love the idea of devoting your life to one thing, in search of the sublime.”
But, he continued, “the truth is, they’ve became worse. Worse at persisting to stay themselves. That’s something I don’t understand. Making exactly the same music but not that good. There must be no joy in doing something like this.”
Also in the interview, Albarn spoke about the releases of Blur’s The Ballad of Darren and Gorillaz’ Cracker Island. When asked if releasing two albums in one year was “a lot,” Albarn replied, “No, not enough to make a big deal out of it.” He then clarified, “To be honest with you, there would have been much more if I weren’t tied to that record labels system and all. If I knew how to use social media, I’d love the idea of releasing music before it has to go through that huge tedious process. But at the same time, it would get me massively involved in a different way. It’s quite frustrating sometimes, but it allows me more time to focus on other things.”
Albarn has definitely had a busy year, and it seems the stress of two album releases and a tour are catching up with him. But, that could also just be his nature. According to Albarn, he hasn’t listened to the studio recordings of The Ballad of Darren since they were made, stating, “I tend to flee from this type of thing afterward. I love making it, but I don’t want to dwell on it later.”
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