A lesser-known song from Blur, but no less quality than their run of solid works. Ripped from the recording demo pile of their debut album, Leisure, the band can be heard finding their footing on this release. Moments of trial and error backed by a fundamental core which screams quality, not being all that far off. A demo which never made it onto the first album, for one reason or another, but not without its charm. There is a bubbling energy underscoring the song; once more, the quality comes from the instrumental sections rather than the Albarn-led focus on being the fresh faces on a dying Madchester scene. Still, Blur had to start somewhere and this demo recording is rightly sent for the scrap heap. Simple songwriting, relatively poor mixing and an overwhelming reliance on Alex James’ bass are a tad overbearing. But for fans wanting deep cut material, then I Love Her is right there.
Hangups of jangle pop and an intermittent desire to be an explosive noise rock band hears the four-piece work as individuals. It is a shortcoming which would thankfully not appear on the rest of their debut. But Blur has always found an intensity and interest in the boisterous moments, in the frenetic overlap of roaring instrumentals. They had not quite nailed the balance at this early stage, though the rock-ready ways would appear in their later, post-Britpop ascended efforts. It feels like a full circle moment and would be considered as much if more had listened to this demo. But there is little reason to other than to check the box of historic learning. As a song, it is a far cry from what Blur does best. They are achingly far off the tempo and rock-adjacent steadiness which defined Leisure, let alone their follow-up albums.
Messy in its mix and simple in its structure, what, then, can salvage I Love Her? Heart. There is enough of an earnest performance on show from Blur here, in their early years no less, to suggest they had something special. It would take time to pick this out though the band were not all too far off from the brilliant sounds which still define them. I Love Her may not be one of those songs but it is certainly a chance to hear the band in those early stages. What influences them, what they would go on to change about their sound, I Love Her is a stop-off worth making but not returning to. A petrol station with an above-average coffee. The layover without a panicked rush to the gate. These are moments we can appreciate but never quite want to experience again.
At the very least, Blur has a strong song at hand here. I Love Her has a tremendous urgency halfway through the song, an increase to the tempo which sounds guided by Graham Coxon’s guitar influence. That is where the song builds into something special. Still a mess of a mix and the inability to pick out the swaggering uniqueness of Albarn lyrics is a heartbreaking moment, but for an early demo from a band workng hard to cement themselves, this is a thrill. Those repetitions of the title track feel a bit Morrissey-influenced, though it soon passes. I Love Her is a plain sailing song, a piece of work made, it would seem, to test out the individuality of Blur than offer anything worthy of release.
