BLUR: Live from Wembley Stadium (Parlophone)
Verdict: triumphant return
EMPIRE OF THE SUN: Ask God (EMI)
Verdict: Stargazing dance music
It can sometimes feel a little cheesy when pop stars thank their fans for their support at live shows. But there was more than just crowd-pleasing banter when Damon Albarn addressed the Blur fans (180,000 over two nights) who flocked to Wembley Stadium for the biggest residency of the band’s career last summer.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment our whole lives and it’s wonderful to share it with all of you,” Damon said excitedly. “Without you, none of this would be possible.”
I went to the second Wembley show, when an overwhelmed Damon fell to his knees and shed tears after the epic ballad Under The Westway, and his reactions were genuine.
He has since described the July 2023 shows as the best Blur have ever played, so it’s no surprise that the band are celebrating their first anniversary.
A candid documentary, Blur: To The End, is out in cinemas now, and a two-hour concert film is due out in September. There’s also a new live album, available now on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment our whole lives and it’s wonderful to share it with you all,” Damon gushed at the comeback show at Wembley last July.
Some 180,000 fans flocked to see the Britpop band perform over the two days.
A candid documentary, Blur: To The End, is in cinemas now, and a two-hour concert film is due out in September.
There’s also a new live album, out today on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital.
Live records never quite capture the thrill of seeing a show in person, but this one at least hints at the party fervour of those Wembley nights. Touring for the first time in eight years, Blur are in sparkling form, rekindling the fire of their 1995 heyday, when a heated chart battle with rivals Oasis made national headlines.
Highlights include the Britpop anthems Parklife (sung by guest Phil Daniels) and Girls & Boys, Damon’s bemused account of the sexual antics he witnessed while on a Mediterranean holiday with Brits abroad. The post-Britpop years, when Blur’s music took a lo-fi turn, are represented by Coffee & TV, sung by guitarist Graham Coxon, and Song 2.
Blur can be erratic. Modern Life Is Rubbish, an album released in 1993, provided the blueprint for Britpop, but its quirky songs weren’t designed for packed stadiums, and here they falter: the pop scene sounds patchy; the dark Rosie Villa leads to a mid-set lull.
The same can’t be said of the band’s brooding, reflective ballads, which are perfectly suited to a balmy summer mood. To The End and The Universal are melancholic sing-alongs, and 1999’s Tender, written about Damon’s split from girlfriend Justine Frischmann, is a delight, brightened by Coxon and the London Community Gospel Choir’s bluesy guitar.
Following the Wembley shows, Blur toured Europe, Japan and South America. They also made two appearances at April’s Coachella festival in California, and Damon suggested those gigs were “probably” the quartet’s last shows.
That should be taken with a grain of salt. Blur is on holiday (Damon is focusing on another of his projects, Gorillaz), but the band members remain on good terms. “I hope we’ve lifted your spirits,” Damon says at the end of this album. We wouldn’t rule out another emotional reunion.
Live records never fully capture the thrill of seeing a show in person, but this one at least hints at the celebratory fervour of those Wembley nights.
Following the Wembley shows, Blur went on tour to Europe, Japan and South America. They also made two appearances at the Coachella festival in California this April.
Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele have been silent since their 2016 album Two Vines
Electro-pop duo Empire Of The Sun are one of Australia’s most successful musical exports, but producer Nick Littlemore and singer Luke Steele have been silent since their 2016 album Two Vines.
Her absence was initially due to the pandemic, as the two struggled to write together over Zoom. Littlemore has also been working with her other band, dance trio Pnau, who topped the charts in 2021 with Cold Heart.
Back together on their new album Ask That God, Littlemore and Steele play to their strengths. On their debut LP, 2008’s Walking On A Dream, the duo were honing a strain of shimmering, space-age disco, a sound that has since become a default setting for much of modern pop, albeit without as many star-gazing lyrics.
On Ask That God — a record they call “a holistic musical adventure where imagination and reality blur” — they reaffirm their heavenly credentials. The pretentious description is surely ironic, but also a reasonable synopsis of songs that delve into the realms of fantasy.
Cosmic sparks begin to fly on Changes, with lyrics that speak of an all-night rave soundtracked by “a radio for the heart and soul.” On Cherry Blossom, there are lines about quantum physics. On Music On The Radio, Steele sings about neon trees and references German electronic band Tangerine Dream.
The duo never lose sight of pop’s essential elements. The title track is an ’80s-style synth piece, and AEIOU is a collaboration with Pnau. But even on their more earthy tracks (like Friends I Know, about conversations in a Tokyo bar), they can’t help but reach for the stars.
Classic disco turns classic disco on Proms boogie night
LIVE: Let’s all dance! The sound of the disco (Royal Albert Hall)
Verdict: Disc with conditions
From the mirror balls on stage to the sequins and glitter of those trying to do John Travolta dance moves in the aisles, the Royal Albert Hall was hit with a serious case of Saturday night fever last weekend as the Proms paid homage to the disco sounds of the 1970s and 1980s.
Following last year’s Northern Soul event, this was another example of the Proms taking a dance genre and giving it a symphonic feel. Led by conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, the BBC Concert Orchestra and a group of soulful singers turned disco classics into classical music.
The evening was inspired by New York nightclub Studio 54. As Bartholomew-Poyser said, it was where “artists, singers, actors, dancers and writers came for a night of dancing, drinking, fun… and maybe a little debauchery” (Chic’s Nile Rodgers once described it as “Sodom and Gomorrah on steroids”).
Thankfully, there was no debauchery at the Proms. Instead, a well-chosen setlist of 25 songs struck an informed balance between classics and less-celebrated highlights. Odyssey’s Native New Yorker lent itself well to elegant strings, while Diana Ross’s I’m Coming Out was brightened by a fine trombone solo.
Other renewed hits include Chic’s Le Freak and the Bee Gees’ Night Fever, while Basement Jaxx collaborator Vula Malinga almost raised the roof with Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive and Never Can Say Goodbye.
Surprisingly, there was no room for Barry White, who made his mark with The Love Unlimited Orchestra. But there was Walter Murphy, who fused disco and classical music in the 1970s. His Beethoven and Gershwin numbers worked perfectly, leaving room for a second part.
Let’s all dance! The Sound Of Disco is available on BBC Sounds and will air on BBC2 at a later date.
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