Rocktrospectiva: Blur's Comeback "The Magic Whip" Turns 10

Released on 27 April 2015, "The Magic Whip" stylised in Chinese text as 模糊魔鞭, was the eighth studio album by English rock band Blur. It was recorded in Hong Kong and London. It was the band's first studio album in 12 years since Think Tank (2003), marking the longest gap between studio albums in Blur's career, and the first in 16 years since 13 (1999) to have featured the original line-up (Coxon featuring on only one song on Think Tank). The album also marks the return of the band's longtime producer Stephen Street following Blur (1997). The album spawned five singles "Go Out", "There Are Too Many Of Us", "Lonesome Street" "Ong Ong", & "I Broadcast".

The album received acclaim from music critics. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, marking Blur's sixth UK number-one album. 

Back in May 2013, Blur were set to play Japan's Tokyo Rocks Music festival. However, the entire festival was canceled for unknown reasons, leaving the band stranded in Hong Kong for an extra five days. In an attempt to distract themselves, they worked on new material in Avon Studios, as announced by lead singer Damon Albarn during the gig at AsiaWorld–Expo, Chek Lap Kok. Albarn later stated he was unsure whether the resulting music would ever be released. "There are about 15 songs...the annoying thing is, if I'd been able to write the lyrics there and then about being there, we'd have finished the record. But sometimes, if you can't do it all at once, it dissipates really and I don't know what I'd sing about now with that record. There's some great tunes on there, but it may just be one of those records that never comes out."

In November 2014, Graham Coxon started to work further on the recordings with producer Stephen Street, while Albarn was touring his solo album, Everyday Robots (2014). Coxon commented "I kept thinking about the recordings we had made in Hong Kong and remembering how good it felt. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I hadn't had another look". Coxon would secretly invite Alex James and Dave Rowntree to further recording sessions to build upon the material. Once nearing completion, Coxon presented the music to Albarn to see if it was worthy of an album. On the way back from his tour of Australia in December, Albarn stopped in Hong Kong once more for lyrical inspiration. Vocals were completed towards the end of January 2015 and the album's mastering was finished on 18 February 2015, the day before the album was announced to the press in London's Chinatown.

The album title, The Magic Whip was multifaceted. An ice cream in the UK, a firework in China and a 'whip' in a political sense. These extremes would reflect the different textures, breadth, and depth of the album. Tony Hung the art director said that the band wanted a cover that touched on those themes and that also had a "rawer feel" to give a sense of how the record came together in Hong Kong.

Critics considered the album as a return to form, praising that their magic remains as strong as ever, a triumphant comeback, and noted that it retains the band's core identity while allowing ideas they'd fermented separately over the past decade to infuse their sound with mature and peculiar new flavour combinations."

 

The Magic Whip Track List:  

1. Lonesome Street

2. New World Towers

3. Go Out

4. Ice Cream Man

5. Thought I Was A Spaceman

6. I Broadcast

7. My Terracotta Heart

8. There Are Too Many Of Us

9. Ghost Ship

10. Pyongyang

11. Ong Ong

12. Mirrorball