Blur

Blur's diverse discography defined Britpop and changed modern music. 

While ‘Song 2' is an iconic hit, it's just the tip of the iceberg for a the London four-piece that made every track a winner - from the instantly recognisable riff on ‘There's No Other Way', to their disco-pop reinvention on ‘Parklife', to the ballad of ‘Beetlebum' and beyond.

Blur's path has rarely been straightforward, with conflicting personalities, band break-ups, the Oasis beef, successful side projects (Gorillaz, to name just one) and the pressure to innovate often getting in the way. But the music has always spoken for itself. Blur will always be the sum of its parts and when they get it right, they blow us away.

Now after a 12-year break, they're back with a new album The Magic Whip and a headline spot at Splendour In The Grass.

Chapter 1

Blur on Britpop

Blur pay homage to the Beatles Red and Blue album covers on EMI balcony, Manchester Square, London, 1995. Photo: Chris Taylor

Blur's Parklife record typified the Britpop movement that grabbed music media headlines throughout the mid '90s. British bands, all playing guitar-centric pop-rock, were hugely prevalent at the time. Blur were one of the biggest, alongside their alleged rivals Oasis.

"For me it was always supposed to be quite funny. Comedy, on our behalf," Damon Albarn told triple j's Michael Tunn in 1995 about the rivalry between Oasis and Blur. "It was quite a camp thing. But they sort of took it the wrong way and it got..."

"It got very nasty there at one stage," Tunn offered.

"It did," Albarn admitted.Among the barbs fired between both camps and their management's aggressive one-upmanship, both Blur and Oasis released incredible albums at the time. The one-two punch of 1994's Parklife and 1995's The Great Escape stood up against Oasis' Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, released in the same years.

It seems fair that the media would focus on the UK scene, given the quality of its output and the “Britpop” label. But Blur never identified with that term.

"It's not something we ever really felt belonged to us," Albarn told Caz Tran on triple j in 1999. "I don't think any band did. It was something that was created in the press. There was never any sense, especially in this country, of people getting together and thinking 'let's march forward with this great big flag'.

"I think it's just annoying to everyone from the first time it was written in the press and I suppose maybe we got tagged with it more than most, because it was kind of our Parklife album that instigated the whole thing.

" I think it annoyed everyone else and definitely annoyed us. But I don't think we ever felt tied down. We've moved a long way from there."

While Oasis got a foothold in the US with ...Morning Glory cracking the Billboard top five and 'Wonderwall' sneaking into the top ten, Blur found it harder to break through there.

"I've been [to the US] so many times now that I basically have to admit defeat and accept that, at the moment, we're too English for them," Albarn told Tunn in '95. "I see no other reason why we shouldn't be huge in America."

Chapter 2

Blur on Australia

Blur have a weird history with Australia. They've only toured the country once, playing a handful of dates 18 years ago in October 1997 following the release of their self-titled album.

In 1995, Blur were fairly popular in Australia. So Michael Tunn wanted to know why the band hadn't visited yet.

"I'd love to come," Albarn said over the phone. "I've seen lots of programs about Australia."

He then hinted that the band were so focused on cracking that formidable US market that Australia took a backseat when it came to tour priorities.

"I think everyone invests so much time in America and by the time they've finished a standard world tour they're all too knackered to go to Australia."

Speaking with Caz Tran four years later, and two years after their first Australian trip, Albarn admitted Blur didn't have any further plans to tour Australia again.

"I really don't want to think that I can't go to Australia," he said. "I really enjoyed it. I might come anyway [without Blur]."

The band never made it back to Australia before splitting up in 2003. After they reformed, it took six more years to plot a return trip. The band was announced as one of the three headliners for the 2014 Big Day Out festival. But that didn't work out either. They withdrew from the line up for reasons that still aren't all that clear.

"That was a massive shame," Graham Coxon told triple j earlier this year. "It was a painful decision for us. We'd love to come to Australia. We're trying to see how it goes. We're taking things a day at a time. Then we're gonna make some decisions about where we go. Sorry I can't be any clearer."

But, in that same interview, he said that he and the band had fond memories of their time here.

"Great memories," he confirmed. "I remember having some really, really nice times and meeting some really great people and thinking it had an amazing atmosphere. It was a place that we loved – we had a lot of good times there."

The band's first visit to Australia is forever immortalised on film. 'M.O.R.' is one of the highlights of their 1997 album and the clip is a thrilling, stunt-heavy piece filmed in Australia with a stunt legend.

"Grant Page, it wouldn't have happened without him," Albarn told triple j's Richard Kingsmill in 1997. "He's done all the stunts in all the stuntish Australian films. He did all the Mad Max films."

Things didn't exactly go smoothly when it came to making the clip. The band were forced to change plans at the last minute.

"It was supposed to be us the whole way through but the guy who promised us he would create these prosthetic replicas didn't come up with the goods. So he had to compromise and have balaclavas on and it not be us at all."

What's worse, there was nearly a massive disaster.

"Grant Page's son… he fell off the Sydney bridge and broke one of his kneecaps," Albarn said. "He was stopped from really damaging himself by his dad, who sort of threw himself underneath him. He was sort of a human mat. It was the shimmying down the bridge that did it."

Chapter 3

Blur on Blur

Blur in the mid '90s. Photo: Paul Postle

Blur are far more active than many would have expected them to be a decade ago. In fact, even a year ago, we weren't really sure if they were ever going to release another new album.

From an outsider's perspective, it seems like band has been in a state of flux for much of their career. On the band's 1997 Australian tour, they admitted to having thoughts about breaking up after the hectic schedule surrounding the release of Parklife and The Great Escape. But they never actually discussed those thoughts with one another.

"We didn't talk about splitting," Coxon told Kingsmill. "I think it entered all our heads individually but it never came up as a discussion. It felt like something was wrong. We were just too tired. We were exhausted and needed to recuperate, take stock of personal things – life, etcetera."

Though, at the time, both Albarn and Coxon felt their best material was still ahead of them.

"I think there's further to take it so I wouldn't be perfectly happy about stopping," Coxon said.

"I definitely don't feel like we've done our best work yet," Albarn added.

The interpersonal relationships within the band are intriguing. Coxon and Albarn have been friends since early high school. The duo met bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree in their very early 20s.

In a rare candid moment, Albarn and Coxon told Kingsmill that sometimes this familiarity is a benefit and sometimes it's a curse.

"When Graham's not having a good time he just gets very, very tight-arsed about things and doesn't smile at all," Albarn said. "He mopes about and is very morose. I do little funny dances to try and cheer him up, but he just gets more and more morose and I get more and more downhearted.

"Then Alex starts to really annoy me and I start shouting at him. Then he stops playing in the middle of songs, which makes me want to punch him out, but I never do because he's the most passive man on the planet."

When Kingsmill asked if the band are best friends, the answer hinted at a complex relationship.

"It's more than that really," Albarn said.

"We're brothers," added Coxon.

"Yeah, brothers is a much better word."

"There's a lot of history."

"There are moments where we absolutely and utterly connect without ever having to say anything," Albarn said. "There are other times where we might as well be on different continents."

From some of his comments, Albarn gives the impression that being a public person is a constant struggle.

"I'm only writing about myself these days," he told Kingsmill. "I've given up trying to write about the ordinary man. I'm not an ordinary man in any sense anymore.

"I've got a room full of things written about me. Not personally, but I'm sure you could fill a room with all the things that have been written about me. And that's not a normal state for a human being to find themselves in. As an individual I don't feel disconnected – I am, whether I consider myself to be or not."

Albarn has come to terms with that connectedness – or lack thereof. The band are finally back in Australia this week and they have an excellent new album in The Magic Whip with them. It'd be daft to try and predict what is in store for Blur's future, so long as they get on stage this weekend, Australian fans will be very, very happy.