We’ll be cracking the Whip
BLUR IN SPEEDY NEW LP PLEDGE
RETURNING superstars Blur want to follow their comeback shows with a quick album.
Set to play Wembley Stadium in July, drummer Dave Rowntree
would love the band to make new music as quickly as their last record.
Last LP The Magic Whip was written in just a week while on tour in Hong Kong.
And Dave told me: “Making an album that way was very liberating.
“I’d do another album like The Magic Whip in a moment, because it’s how we used to record in Blur’s earliest days.
“Back then, we’d just go into the studio and churn out songs.
“If you make five songs in a day, it doesn’t matter if one doesn’t work.
“That’s more enjoyable than six months of, ‘I can’t get the drums right on this song! This is a disaster!’”
The Magic Whip reached No1 in 2015 and Dave said: “The ideas were done in a week, and that’s where Blur are at our best, because making music comes relatively easy to us.”
The band’s comeback at Wembley will be the first time they play the stadium and Dave explained: “It’s difficult with Blur, because we’ve got nothing to prove.
“You think, ‘What haven’t we done three times already?’ There has to be a reason to do Blur again, because otherwise it looks like you’re just doing it for the money.
“Wembley is a wonderful idea, as we’ve never done it before.”
Dave has just released new single Tape Measure from his debut solo album Radio Songs, out on January 20.
The drummer recently toured without Blur for the first time and said: “I hope my shows are the start of a long and productive experience.
“Half the point of releasing solo music is so I can play live again. I don’t want to wait before another three lunatics decide it’s a good idea to tour.”
Radio Songs is based on tracks Dave wrote over the past four years.
He added: “I’m constantly writing songs, as it’s very therapeutic.
“I want to start writing a second album before the end of this year.
“I have a lot of song ideas I could revisit, but the joy of making music is starting afresh with a blank piece of paper.”