Blur Returns With A New Album In April

Wily Damon Albarn and his Blur compadres had declared for ages that it was unlikely that the band would release a new album in the foreseeable future. Well, that's all changed as of today: Blur returns with its first studio album in 12 years, called The Magic Whip, on April 28 in the States (April 27 in the UK). The album was recorded over a five-day stretch in Kowlown, Hong Kong back in 2013.

Blur have also announced a show at London's Hyde Park on June 20 as part of the British Summer Time concert series; tickets go on sale on Friday, February 27, at 9a.m. GMT. More information can be found at the British Summer Time at Hyde Park site.

Watch the video for the album's first single, the guitar-driven lope "Go Out," below.

Blur's last album was 2003's Think Tank, but Blur guitarist Graham Coxon remained largely estranged from the process of making that album. The Magic Whip signals the quartet's first real return as a cohesive band in the studio since 1999's 13 with Albarn, Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree all actively involved in the recording.

According to a press release, this past fall, Coxon revisted the tracks, that had been temporarily shelved, and along with producer Stephen Street, began pulling the album together. Street was a dynamic part of the early history of the band, working on three albums, including 1994's Parklife. Albarn added lyrics to the songs and what had been viewed by Blur fans as a missed opportunity will now see the light of day.

Last year, Damon Albarn released his Mercury Prize-nominated solo debut album, Everyday Robots. He also visited WFUV for a very special session in Studio A, available now in the FUV Vault.

The Magic Whip tracklisting:

Lonesome Street
New World Towers
Go Out
Ice Cream Man
Thought I Was a Spaceman
I Broadcast
My Terracotta Heart
There are Too Many of Us
Ghost Ship
Pyongyang
Ong Ong
Mirror Ball