Blur: 1 Hidden Gem On Every Album

For a few years after Graham quit the group, it seemed as though we’d never get another Blur album. There’s no reason now to assume we will again.

So, The Magic Whip is something to be cherished; arguably any Blur is better than no Blur at all.

Nonetheless, it’s not quite the Blur reunion album some of us had hoped for. Some of the moody meditations that Damon penned for this record sound like they’d be more at home on one of his other projects, The Good The Bad and The Queen or Gorillaz. The album also rarely breaks out of a midtempo groove that ultimately leaves the record feeling less than the sum of its parts.

That said, Ghost Ship sees the band breaking new ground once again. Over the course of their history Blur had been romantic, lovelorn, cynical, satirical, lo-fi, polished, defiant, dreamy, belligerent, consolatory, gentle and aggressive.

Rarely, if ever, had they sounded sexy. Ghost Ship changed that, with a brilliant Alex James bassline underpinning a shuffling, hypnotic, late night groove.