Blur – There Are Too Many of Us Review

A decade on from The Magic Whip and the songs still feel understated. Perhaps that is because Blur created this album when at a loose end for what to do with their time. Nice enough songs, but a little short of the quality laid out on past releases. The Ballad of Darren, which released eight years after The Magic Whip, overwhelmed any note of quality or range the band had provided on their 2015 release. There Are Too Many of Us, a remnant of Blur in this post-Glastonbury Festival headlining thrill ride, has the band question their place in the music culture they helped mould. Was there space on the airwaves for the long-running rock outfit? They seem not to think so, as they suggest there are too many people. Paul McCartney suggested as much in a knock at John Lennon on his Ram record. Blur follows suit.  

Shift away from the radio play and where the Damon Albarn-led outfit fits into the modern music discourse, and onto the overpopulation which rests at the core of There Are Too Many of Us. Straight to the point, environmentally and socially conscious songwriting from Albarn and delivered with the same conviction as his comments on the world around us, in the studio and on stage. Beyond the statement comes an urgency which is heard in the sudden, piercing string section. There Are Too Many of Us is quite unlike anything Blur had made up to this point. They had used instrumental excess on a few Think Tank occasions, usually to lash out at the horrors of the world around them in a lucid form, as Me, White Noise offers. Experimentation is still the point of There Are Too Many of Us, as is the fear of a future of too many people.  

Tiny houses and a warning to the next generation to ease off, to take their foot off the gas when it comes to repopulation, is heard. It is not dealt with in a heavy-handed way, surprising given the touchy subject on show. Societal expectations are a reason for childbirth. Settle down, get married, two kids and a holiday home on some former British Empire peninsula. Such is the birthright of the Brit, and how disgusting it is that this is the cultural form, the usual route. There is no correct direction, and there is vindication for those who go against the grain, heard on the megaphone-like soapbox delivery from Albarn. Very much a borderline solo Albarn song, but Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree are on hand with some effective instrumental additions.  

Revisiting The Magic Whip so long after its initial release is a treat. Blur reveals themselves as socially aware commentators not because there was little else to write of, but because they fear the bleak future ahead. Ten years on, and the question “posed to our children” is still unanswered. There Are Too Many of Us is more than just a political statement; it has a punchy instrumental bed for some apocalyptic, crushing strings to work their magic on. Albarn delivers this song with a striking conviction, a fresh perspective on an issue which has been ripped to shreds and reassembled by those with blinkered views of the world. Whatever affects the yes and no columns of overpopulation, There Are Too Many of Us is a surprising, refreshing moment from Blur.