Blur – New World Towers Review

An accidental album brought on by a chance few days off, Blur’s The Magic Whip felt like a welcome full stop for the band. Their reformation in 2009 just never stopped. Damon Albarn is a man who can continually create, his focus is often changing. If it is not an opera, it is Gorillaz, and if not his Jamie Hewlett collaboration, then his attention is back on the band which still defines him. New World Towers investigates the reason he, along with Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree, recorded an album in just five days. Albarn may have taken his time with the lyrics, but the crucial pieces for a new record, the influence and the instrumentals, were out there. New World Towers documents the details of making work with close friends but fails to deliver on juicier details which may provide much-needed context to fallouts and refreshed relationships.  

What becomes clear from the outset is that no member wanted to make a new album. They were forced into it as they had enough time on their hands. Albarn has frequently said he has no interest in making more Blur material. Another album, The Ballad of Darren, has since been released and stands as their best work to date. New World Towers is not as emotionally taxing as To the End, but the latter documentary did not feel like a clean-cut advertisement for the contemporary album. New World Towers does. Each band member seems to be on the same page, a united front when it comes to presenting their first album since Think Tank. Over a decade had passed, and it is fair to suggest the four-piece do not want to tread on any toes. But in keeping the mood light, they lock real emotion out of the conversation.  

Understanding how The Magic Whip came to be takes just a cursory glance. Albarn, Coxon, James, and Rowntree add very little to the meaning. A series of jams between friends where distraction was necessary became a chance to put their feelings to song. That is what comes to be here. There is plenty more reason under the surface, but director Sam Wrench never scratches it. Sweet performances of the new songs are featured and play out the concert film aesthetic well, though the talking head spots with the band feel underwhelming. At what point do we stop believing Albarn can no longer face fronting Blur? He and the rest of the band has returned to the well time and again, and no amount of finality brought on by New World Towers or Coachella-based fits of rage can convince fans otherwise.  

Where this is now sour grapes, what becomes clear through New World Towers is the disappointment and jubilation which is all part of the creative process. Blur put themselves through a painful and sudden recording process for no reason. They came out the other end with a solid album. New World Towers is a bit too squeaky clean to offer anything but a band-tailored narrative. A taxi cab conversation for Rowntree proves interesting, but New World Towers spends almost all of its time confirming Blur are friends once again. They have since suggested they rarely speak when not on the road together, but such is the case for firm friendships. New World Towers and The Magic Whip proved to be an occasion of constant celebration, of accepting this could be the end of a beautiful creative flow. A decade on and the stream has seemingly dried up for good. A shame, but there are better documentaries showcasing everything New World Towers tries to do.