Great News! After seven years of sporadic live performances and Damon Albarn obviously focusing on Gorillaz we are surprised with a new track from Blur! Splendid. “Fool’s Day” was released as part of the Record Store Day celebrations held over the weekend. Somewhat unexpected from the band but warmly welcomed nonetheless.
The track has a slow tempo and almost feels lazy but this contributes to the general vibe. The mood is relaxed, dreary and a tad pessimistic, but still effortlessly beautiful. I tend to wonder why Albarn, after so much individual success with Gorillaz, would be interested in collaborative work again but I suppose the fun and satisfaction of playing with your old mates is too tempting. You can sense it in the product, after a few listens the simple quality of the track seeps through and is irrevocable. Albarn’s voice combines sveltely with the lethargic strokes of the drums and bass before culminating in a simple guitar solo. It is just good, authentic pop-rock.
In advocacy of Record Store Day the band released 1000 limited edition vinyl copies of the single directly to record stores in the UK whilst also making the MP3 and uncompressed WAV files available from their website so the track is freely available to all. Credit to the intelligence of the Band and their management for taking this approach and supporting hard copy independent retailers whilst also acknowledging the role of online distribution mediums, such as this blog, for promoting contemporary Artists and releases. More signs that the music industry is slowly coming around to the potential of online distribution and promotion through blogs. Good news for all.
Get the track from the link below or from their website http://www.blur.co.uk/.
Happy Music 