Upcoming Releases:
VAMPIRE WEEKEND: Only God Was Above Us (4/5/24)
ST. VINCENT: All Born Screaming (4/26/24)
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
ONLY GOD WAS ABOVE US
NEW ALBUM OUT NOW!
April 8th Eclipse Show in Austin to be live streamed free on Veeps.com
Appearing on The Daily Show April 10th
Vampire Weekend Radio Takes Over SiriusXM’s XMU Channel (35) beginning today
“Vampire Weekend has never made a bad album, but ‘Only God Was Above Us’ is one of its best.”
–THE NEW YORKER
” It feels new and comfortable, regularly elegant and charming, calm and comforting, and, at times, foreboding. And just a bit worried.
This is to say that ‘Only God Was Above Us’ is also the most honest album Vampire Weekend have made, an encapsulation of what the band does best, melodic and abstruse in Koenig’s own masterful way.”
—PITCHFORK, Best New Music
“It’s like a musical shot of adrenaline. But its rewards are worth working to discover… it’s a fascinating evolution for a band that refuses to stay in one place for too long.”
–ASSOCIATED PRESS
“One of the quintessential bands for their generation… the album is as good as anything the New York City-formed rockers have ever made (which is to say, very good)… It’s not exactly like anything you’ve heard before; it’s 100% Vampire Weekend.”
–PASTE
“…a Harsh Beautiful Record For a Harsh Beautiful World”
–ROLLING STONE “HEAR THIS”
“…an album full of startling changes and wild sonic upheavals, all packed into 10 songs.”
–THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Vampire Weekend’s latest album takes the band’s unmistakable sound to dazzlingly intricate places… bringing their vast musical pedigree to create a sound that they’ve touched on previously but never explored so thoroughly… sophisticated, scale-vaulting hooks and constantly shifting arrangements…filled with wildly cascading arpeggios and mellifluous melodies”
—VARIETY
At long last, Vampire Weekend’s fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us, is out today via Columbia Records. Met with unanimous rave reviews across the globe, OGWAU finds Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio and Chris Tomson, along with longtime collaborator and producer Ariel Rechtshaid, expanding an unmatched streak of critical and commercial successes.
OGWAU’s release week festivities kick off with the band’s sold out show in Austin, TX on Monday April 8th under a total eclipse. The entire show will be broadcast LIVE for FREE on streaming platform Veeps, starting at 12pm CT allowing Vampire Weekend fans across the globe to be a part of this unique experience. Go to Veeps.com for more information.
From there the band will grace their hometown of NYC for a visit with Comedy Central’s intrepid news team at The Daily Show on April 10th at 11 pm ET—the band’s first televised performance since 2019.
Additional OGWAU official release week activities are rumored to involve Lamborghinis, hot dogs, and other Tri-State area jaunts.
In case you missed it, the third episode of Vampire Campfire, was released this week and features very special guest Ariel Rechtshaid and solves the long held mystery: “How tall are the members Vampire Weekend?” Baio, CT and Koenig also answer some fan questions on air. Watch the latest episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Beginning today, SiriusXM’s XMU, channel 35, will become Vampire Weekend Radio through April 8 and will be available in the SiriusXM app through May 7. Including a personal intro from the band on Only God Was Above Us, the channel will also feature Vampire Weekend’s discography from the last two decades, stories behind their songs, as well as music and artists that inspire them. The channel will also highlight archival SiriusXM Sessions performances and will feature the premiere of a new, stripped down SiriusXM Session. To start listening to Vampire Weekend Radio go here. Eligible customers can get their first three months of SiriusXM for free. Go to siriusxm.com/GetSiriusXM3mos for more information.
ST. VINCENT
“FLEA”
SECOND ADVANCE TRACK FROM NEW ALBUM
ALL BORN SCREAMING OUT APRIL 26
North American Headline Tour Dates Announced
“Flea” Track and Video
hoto Credit: Alex Da Corte
“You will be mine for eternity…”
So states St. Vincent with fiery resolve on “Flea,” the second advance offering from the three-time GRAMMY winner’s rapidly approaching seventh full-length studio album, All Born Screaming, out April 26 via Total Pleasure Records in partnership with Virgin Music Group.
Featuring St. Vincent on vocals and all instruments except drums and bass—handled respectively by Dave Grohl and Justin Meldal-Johnsen—“Flea” is raw desire made manifest atop a foundation of thundering grooves and searing guitar figures. Accompanied by a lyric video featuring behind the scenes footage from the All Born Screaming sessions, “Flea” unveils another dimension of the album’s emotionally apocalyptic side one, following in the wake of the “thrilling industrial sound” (The New York Times) of its predecessor “Broken Man”—currently in its second week at #1 Most Added at Alternative Radio and still amassing critical raves including:
“It’s a volcanic buildup of a song, from the sparsest ticking electronics to a hard-rock stomp to a full-scale pileup of guitars, drums and horns. Clark sings about power, defiance, abject need and imminent breakdown, riding an onslaught of a song that lives up to the title of her album due in April: ‘All Born Screaming.’” –THE NEW YORK TIMES
“…it’s Annie Clark, in all her glory… an artist at the pinnacle of her craft.”– BILLBOARD
“Think Tool covering a Nine Inch Nails–produced Fiona Apple song and you’re circling the vibe.”– FLOOD
“Annie Clark at her louche best, turning rock performance into a game of roiling tension and all-out abandon.”– PAPER
“‘Broken Man’ is defiantly catchy… enthralling and metallic, signaling an exciting new vision”– PASTE (This Week’s Best New Songs)
St. Vincent’s first self-produced record, All Born Screaming is an invitation to test the limits of what is possible–and to then keep going; Brought to life with the aid of a highly curated roster of friends — Rachel Eckroth, Josh Freese, Dave Grohl, Mark Guiliana, Cate Le Bon, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Stella Mogzawa and David Ralicke — the album is an unadulterated expression of St. Vincent’s singular vision.
All Born Screaming was produced by St. Vincent and mixed by Cian Riordan. The album’s track listing is as follows:
Hell is Near
Reckless
Broken Man
Flea
Big Time Nothing
Violent Times
The Power’s Out
Sweetest Fruit
So Many Planets
All Born Screaming (featuring Cate Le Bon)
In other news, St. Vincent has announced an extensive slate of live dates. Following in the wake of headlining shows in San Francisco and Napa, and festival appearances including Bottlerock and The Thing!, the newly confirmed headlining shows are as follows:
May 22 — Ventura, CA — The Majestic Ventura Theater*
May 25 — San Francisco, CA — The Masonic*
August 8 — Bend, OR — Hayden Homes Amphitheater #
August 11 — Vancouver, BC — Orpheum +
August 13 — Boise, ID — Knitting Factory +
August 14 — Ogden, UT — Twilight Concert Series +
August 16 — Los Angeles, CA — Greek Theater
September 5 — Boston, MA — MGM Music Hall at Fenway ^
September 6 — Philadelphia, PA — The Met ^
September 10 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Paramount ^
September 11 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Paramount ^
September 13 — Washington D.C. — Anthem ^
September 14 — Toronto, ON — Massey Hall %
September 16 — Ann Arbor, MI — Michigan Theater %
September 20 — St. Paul, MN — The Palace Theater %
*Momma supports
# Spoon supports
+ Eartheater supports
^ Yves Tumor supports
% Dorian Electra supports
Citi is the official card of the All Born Screaming US Tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, April 2 at 10am local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
“MARY BOONE” OUT NOW
Only God Was Above Us Out April 5
New Episode of Vampire Campfire Podcast Out Now
April 8 Austin Eclipse Show To Be Live Streamed
U.K./Europe Dates Announced
In a quiet moment at the theater, I could hear the train,
Deep inside the city, Your memory remains…
Vampire Weekend have released “Mary Boone” — the fourth and final advance offering from Only God Was Above Us out April 5th via Columbia Records. Written by Ezra Koenig and featuring a sample of the iconic drum loop from “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)” by Soul II Soul. Produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and Koenig, with lush orchestral arrangements by Will Canzoneri, Koenig and Rechtshaid, the song — named for one of the most influential figures of the NYC art world of the 1980s—features a soaring, operatic choir alongside Koenig’s understated but honeyed vocals, and lyrics referencing Tadao Ando churches, Natarajas, hex signs, and whirling Dervishes. As its eclectic sonic and lyrical tapestries unfold, the song finds a narrator looking to get their foot in the door of the New York art world (or perhaps something bigger):
Painted white
New in town
You weren’t hiring but I was looking
“Mary Boone” is accompanied by an official visualizer which features a rapper who’s never released an album, Despot, driving from New Jersey to Manhattan via the Lincoln Tunnel. Watch it here.
To date, Ezra Koenig, Chris Tomson and Chris Baio have released four songs from Only God Was Above Us: “Gen-X Cops,” “Capricorn,” “Classical” and now “Mary Boone”—evincing a diverse array of sounds and narratives, yet only revealing less than half of the album’s staggering range and depth. Only God Was Above Us will be available across digital platforms as well as on vinyl and CD. Pre-orders can be placed at https://vampireweekend.store/
On April 8th, Vampire Weekend will celebrate Only God Was Above Us‘ release week in Austin, TX under a total eclipse. For those unable to book flights along the path of the eclipse, the entire show will be broadcast LIVE for FREE on streaming platform Veeps, allowing Vampire Weekend fans across the globe to be a part of this unique experience. More information below.
Meanwhile, Ezra, CT and Baio have released the second episode of Vampire Campfire, the band’s own podcast which sees them having literal fireside chats. Listen now to hear Baio explain the importance and joy that comes from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, valuable life hacks by Ezra, more insider information on Only God Was Above Us, some heavy math and VW analytics (that may or may not be accurate) and a very special guest: the now famed dance phenom, and guitar/drum tech, Josh Goldsmith, the first guest to grace the Vampire Campfire circle. Listen to the new episode here.
Finally, fans across the Atlantic are being treated to their own Vampire Weekend shows via a nine-date run kicking off at the 3Arena in Dublin on November 29th, and carrying through the U.K. in Scotland, Manchester and two separate London shows before wrapping up the run with shows in Paris and Amsterdam. Tickets for those dates as well as more information on the North American tour can be found at vampireweekend.com. Full routing below. Vampire Weekend: Live from Austin airs LIVE on Veeps on April 8, 2024, starting at 12 PM CT. Individual tickets will be free to all viewers via veeps.com, and the show will be available to Veeps All Access subscribers. The stream will be available exclusively on Veeps for 12 months after the air date
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Only God Was Above Us
Tour 2024
Mon Apr 08 – Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheater (Solar Eclipse)
Sat April 27 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival*
Fri May 10 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Block Party*
Thu May 30 – Barcelona, Espana – Primavera Sound*
Thu Jun 06 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
Fri Jun 07 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Sun Jun 09 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
Mon Jun 10 – San Diego, CA – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
Wed Jun 12 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
Sat Jun 15 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley
Sun Jun 16 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley (Matinee Show)
Tue Jun 18 – Burnaby, BC – Deer Lake Park
Wed Jun 19 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Thu Jun 20 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Sat Jun 22 – Bonner, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater
Sun Jun 23 – Bonner, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater (Matinee Show)
Fri Jul 19 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Sat Jul 20 – Dillon, CO – Dillon Amphitheater
Mon Jul 22 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
Tue Jul 23 – Lincoln, NE – Pinewood Bowl Theater
Thu Jul 25 – Maryland Heights, MO – Saint Louis Music Park
Fri Jul 26 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
Sat Jul 27 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
Tue Jul 30 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
Wed Jul 31 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
Thu Aug 01 – Milwaukee, WI – BMO Pavilion
Sat Aug 03 – St. Charles, IA – Hinterland*
Thu Sep 19 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
Fri Sep 20 – Cincinnati, OH – The ICON Festival Stage at Smale Park
Sat Sep 21 – Indianapolis, IN – Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
Mon Sep 23 – Rochester Hills, MI – Meadow Brook Amphitheatre
Tue Sep 24 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Wed Sep 25 – Laval, QC – Place Bell
Fri Sep 27 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Sat Sep 28 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at The Mann
Mon Sep 30 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
Tue Oct 01 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
Wed Oct 02 – Charlottesville, VA – Ting Pavilion
Sat Oct 05 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Sun Oct 06 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden (Matinee Show)
Tue Oct 08 – Wilmington, NC – Live Oak Bank Pavilion
Wed Oct 09 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
Fri Oct 11 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
Sat Oct 12 – Atlanta, GA – Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park
Sun Oct 13 – Asheville, NC – Rabbit Rabbit
Tue Oct 15 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Thu Oct 17 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
Fri Nov 29 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
Sun Dec 1 – Manchester, UK – O2 Apollo
Mon Dec 2 – Manchester, UK – O2 Apollo
Wed Dec 4 – London, UK – Eventim Apollo
Fri Dec 6 – Wolverhampton, UK – The Halls
Sun Dec 8 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Tue Dec 10 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton
Fri Dec 13 – Paris, France – Adidas Arena
Dun Dec 15 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
*Festival date
FOO FIGHTERS
EVERYTHING OR NOTHING AT ALL TOUR
CONCORD, CA DATE ADDED
General On Sale Thursday, March 21 at 10AM PT
Pre-Sales and Additional Information at foofighters.com
“…nothing can keep Foo Fighters from rocking the world’s collective ass off…Foo Fighters in 2023 have ascended from merely rock ‘n’ roll torchbearers to a genuinely inspiring example of what music can accomplish… Like ‘But Here We Are,’ their live shows are at once touching memorials and full-on parties. They’re spaces to reflect on the good times of the past, appreciate the gift of the present, and celebrate the light of the future. It’s who the Foos have always been, but never before have they presented it so poignantly.” – CONSEQUENCE
“They are still the best damn rock band on the planet…” – HOUSTON PRESS
While gearing up for their nearly completely sold-out North American leg of the Everything or Nothing at All Tour, Foo Fighters have added a new show at the Toyota Pavilion in Concord, CA on August 13.
General on sale for the newly added show will begin Thursday, March 21 at 10AM PT. For pre-sales and further information, please visit foofighters.com
Tickets for Foo Fighters’ recently announced 2024 U.S. stadium shows are selling like Nothing at All witnessed in recent rock ’n’ roll history. The band’s return to Boston’s Fenway Park, and its first-ever headlines at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, Hershey Stadium in Hershey PA, Target Field in Minneapolis and Providence Park in Portland OR, as well as its two-night stand at Los Angeles’ BMO stadium have all completely sold out—with limited tickets still available for the remaining stadium plays, which include a July 17 and 19 return to New York’s Citi Field, August 3 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, August 7 at Petco Park in San Diego and August 18 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
The tour takes its name from the chorus of “Nothing at All,” from Foo Fighters’ universally acclaimed 11th album But Here We Are. Released June 2 on Roswell Records/RCA Records, But Here We Are has seen the 15-time GRAMMY-winning band cement its tally of more #1s than any other artist at Rock and Alternative Radio with singles “Rescued” and “Under You.”
Foo Fighters want to give fans the best chance to buy tickets to the Concord show at face value. For fans who purchase tickets to the show for the EVERYTHING OR NOTHING AT ALL TOUR and can’t attend, they will have the option to resell their ticket to other fans at the original price paid using Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange. Please note, tickets are mobile only and restricted from transfer. A valid U.S. bank account or debit card is required to sell tickets on the Face Value Exchange. More information on how the Ticketmaster Exchange works is available here.
Citi is the official card of the above Foo Fighters shows. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets for the newly added date beginning Tuesday, March 19 at 10 am PT until Wednesday, March 20 at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com
FOO FIGHTERS
EVERYTHING OR NOTHING AT ALL TOUR
North America 2024
May 1 — Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion ^
May 5 — Atlanta, GA — Shaky Knees
May 7 — Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek ^
May 9 — Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion ^
May 11 — Daytona Beach, FL — Welcome to Rockville
July 17 — New York, NY — Citi Field *
July 19 – New York, NY — Citi Field #
July 21 – Boston, MA — Fenway Park # (SOLD OUT)
July 23 — Hershey, PA — Hershey Stadium # (SOLD OUT)
July 25 — Cincinnati, OH — Great American Ballpark * (SOLD OUT)
July 28 — Minneapolis, MN — Target Field ** (SOLD OUT)
August 3 — Denver, CO — Empower Field at Mile High *
August 7 — San Diego, CA — Petco Park $
August 9 – Los Angeles, CA — BMO Stadium # (SOLD OUT)
August 11 – Los Angeles, CA — BMO Stadium % (SOLD OUT)
August 13 – Concord, CA — Toyota Pavilion
August 16 – Portland, OR — Providence Park Soccer Stadium % (SOLD OUT)
August 18 – Seattle, WA — T-Mobile Park %
* Pretenders & Mammoth WVH Support
** Pretenders & L7 Support
# The Hives & Amyl and The Sniffers Support
$ The Hives & Alex G Support
% Pretenders & Alex G Support
^ Nova Twins Support
JENNY LEWIS EXTENDS JOY’ALL BALL TOUR INTO JUNE 2024
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, MARCH 15 AT 10AM LOCAL TIME
“Sparkly stage. Bouncing Balls. Jenny Lewis brought singing, style, and swagger…And that’s the joy of a Jenny Lewis concert…This night in Saint Paul, Minnesota, it was a ball for all.” – MUSIC IN MINNESOTA
“Jenny Lewis, it seems, can do it all…Though Lewis shines in stadiums…her superstardom is more apparent up close, a refusal to shrink her charm to fit a venue where guests nearly piled out the door.” – WASHINGTON POST
In the wake of a massive outpouring of love and positivity around her first live shows of 2024, Jenny Lewis keeps her foot on the pedal, confirming 10 all new Joy’All Ball Tour dates.
The June leg of the Joy’All Ball tour will kick off June 18 in Lexington, KY and continue through Columbus OH, Harrisburg PA, Vienna VA, Richmond VA, Saxapahaw NC, Asheville NC, Charleston SC, Jacksonville FL, before concluding June 30 in Birmingham AL. Seattle singer-songwriter Dean Johnson will be joining Jenny as support for this run of dates. Later this spring, Jenny will rejoin the Postal Service for the continuation of the ‘Give Up Transatlanticism’ 20th anniversary co-headline tour with Death Cab for Cutie.
General on sale begins this Friday, March 15 at 10 am local time.
See below for the newly confirmed dates; tickets will be available at https://www.jennylewis.com/#tour
JENNY LEWIS – JOY’ALL BALL 2024 DATES
06/18/24 – Lexington, KY – Lexington Opera House
06/19/24 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
06/21/24 – Harrisburg, PA – Riverfront Park
06/22/24 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap – Out & About Festival
06/23/24 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
06/25/24 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom
06/26/24 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
06/27/24 – Charleston, SC – Music Farm
06/29/24 – Jacksonville, FL – Intuition Ale Works
06/30/24 – Birmingham, AL – Iron City
The Portland Art Museum Announces
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm
September 14, 2024 – January 19, 2025
Paul McCartney. Self-portrait, London, 1963. Pigmented inkjet print.
© 1964 Paul McCartney under exclusive license to MPL Archive LLP
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm is an unprecedented exhibition, revealing extraordinary photographs taken by the beloved musical icon. Organized by the National Portrait Gallery in London, the exhibition will open at the Portland Art Museum on September 14, 2024, and run through January 19, 2025.
Comprised of recently rediscovered photographs from Paul McCartney’s personal archive, more than 250 pictures invite visitors to intimately experience The Beatles’ meteoric rise from British sensation to international stardom. At a time when so many camera lenses were turned toward them, McCartney’s perspective from the inside out brings fresh insight into the band, their experiences, the fans, and the Beatlemania phenomenon. Through these photographs, along with video clips and archival material, visitors can witness the dawn of the “British Invasion” that fundamentally transformed rock and roll music and American society.
Captured by McCartney during a pivotal three-month period for The Beatles in late 1963 and early 1964, the photographs evoke an affectionate family album, picturing his fellow band members, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, at a time when their lives were changing irrevocably. The exhibition gives visitors a highly personal glimpse into an extraordinary time with one of music’s enduring legends.
The exhibition also captures McCartney’s interest in the visual arts, with his photos reflecting the aesthetics and popular culture of the period. The range of work, from portraiture and landscape photos to documentary images, reveals McCartney’s familiarity with the formal styles of early 1960s photography. References to New Wave, documentary filmmaking, and photojournalism can be found across the exhibition.
“Looking at these photos now, decades after they were taken, I find there’s a sort of innocence about them,” said Paul McCartney. “Everything was new to us at this point. But I like to think I wouldn’t take them any differently today. They now bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of the many reasons I love them all, and know that they will always fire my imagination.”
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm is curated by Paul McCartney with Sarah Brown on behalf of MPL Communications Limited and Rosie Broadley for the National Portrait Gallery, London, and organized for the Portland Art Museum by Julia Dolan, Ph.D., the Minor White Senior Curator of Photography.
blur
U.S. DATE ADDED
APRIL 10 — FOX THEATER POMONA
Tickets On Sale 12 Noon PT March 1 HERE
blur has added an intimate theater show to kick off the band’s first visit to the U.S. in nearly 10 years. On April 10, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree will take the stage at the Fox Theater in Pomona CA for a one-night-only event ahead of their April 13 and 20 performances on the Coachella main stage. Tickets for the show — blur’s first on American soil since a 2015 run that included headlines at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl — will be on sale to the general public beginning 12 noon PT March 1 at https://www.axs.com/events/532378/blur-tickets
Announcing their arrival with debut album Leisure in 1991 followed by Modern Life is Rubbish in 1993, blur would go on to revolutionize the sound of English popular music with six successive UK #1 albums Parklife (1994), The Great Escape (1995), Blur (1997), 13 (1999), Think Tank (2003) and The Magic Whip (2015) and a string of Top 10 singles, including two #1s with “Country House” and “Beetlebum.” One of the biggest British bands of the last three decades, blur have released nine studio albums and collected ten NME Awards, six Q Awards, five BRIT Awards and an Ivor Novello Award, and played live to hundreds of thousands of devoted fans across the globe. The band’s latest studio album titled The Ballad of Darren was released on July 21st 2023 to rave reviews and Best of 2023 accolades, including:
“While many of their contemporaries are frozen in time, Blur remains relevant.” –BILLBOARD
“… an enjoyable, heartfelt, and contemplative record… The Ballad of Darren is these four’s statement of resilience and unbreakable respect towards one another… Blur know that light arrives after darkness. Across 10 songs, you can hear them each trying to find it, hand in hand, harmony after harmony.” —CONSEQUENCE
“Blur have knocked it out of the park… a must have for Blur fans… an album that can stand alongside their best work” –GOLDMINE ★★★★★
“A sprawling 42-minute trip through the best sprightly riffs, grungy alt-rock, and experimental electronic work the band has offered up since their founding in early-’90s Britain… they successfully bridge the work in the group that made front man Damon Albarn famous in England with the one that made him famous in the States.” —NEW YORK / VULTURE
“The prettiest and tightest of their nine albums, elegantly arranged with lush harmonies, baroque flourishes…” —PITCHFORK
“The very existence of Blur’s first new album since 2015 feels nothing short of miraculous… there’s still no one who does a bittersweet mope quite like Blur.” —ROLLING STONE
“A reclamation of a core Blur ethos mostly unheard for decades… An intimate sense of celebration” –STEREOGUM
“A brilliant, brave, and perhaps most importantly, truly creative album just when it was least expected… exceptional” –UNDER THE RADAR
“This is Blur’s simplest and most direct full-length release–it’s light on sonic flourishes as it nails the basics… ace songwriting and impressive economy.” –WALL STREET JOURNAL