Published in The Hamilton Spectator on Thursday, May 18 1995 as an advance for Edgefest, featuring Blur, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Elastica and Our Lady Peace at the MCA Molson Amphitheatre on Sunday, May 21
BY NICK KREWEN
DAMON ALBARN, the lead singer of BLUR, figures this Sunday's headlining appearance by his British pop sensation at CFNY's Edgefest gathering pays off a debt.
"It's only one date, and then we finish our album," said the 27-year-old Albarn Tuesday over the phone from Fullham Studio in London. "We underplayed Canada last year. We were supposed to come back at Christmas, but we wanted to get on with recording the next album, so we canceled the dates. I figure we owed it to the people who are interested in us to come back and do a proper gig."
Albarn says the new effort, the London quartet's fourth to be produced by STEPHEN STREET, is still unnamed, but should see the light of day by August.
"Our other album is still selling pretty well, and it's stupid to shoot yourself in the foot," says Albarn.
The album Albarn is referring to is Parklife, a breakthrough effort that established them at home, gave them a worldwide hit with the gender-crossing anthem "Girls & Boys", won them four British Music Industry Awards in February, and is still lodged in the U.K. top ten more than a year after its release.
"I think we arrived somewhere with Parklife, especially in Britain," assesses Albarn. "We took over the country with it. The word `Parklife' became part of the English dictionary, and we actually found our voice.
"I thought Parklife was a nocturnal view of Britain as I see it, but compared with this new album, it's a sunny day. We didn't set out to make it more bleak, but our lives changed dramatically in the last year. You can't ignore that when you're making your next album."
One of Blur's most distinct aspects Albarn, guitarist GRAHAM COXON, bassist ALEX JAMES and drummer DAVE ROWNTREE have been able to develop over three albums is a socially critical repertoire that aims its darts at cultural society. With the overwhelming success of Parklife on his home turf, Albarn notes the irony.
"For me, the most startling thing is that I was criticizing and having a go at my own culture here, although I was celebrating it," says Albarn. "Now I've sort of become part of the establishment I was having a pop at. So you yourself become a target for your own ridicule."
He says his source of inspiration comes from the unpleasant days he spent as a student in the grimy London suburb of Colchester.
"I was catapulted into this bleak, right-wing, bland, satellite town of London, where violence wasn't overt, but everything was violent -- even the architecture," explains Albarn. "It's not a very pleasant place. It's almost a constant source of material, because I understood the world through the grim eyes of Colchester.
"I don't think writing songs is about how great the world is. I think writing songs is about coming to terms with stuff that deep down scares the crap out of you."
Now that Blur has conquered Britain, Albarn isn't worried about future reproach. He says Blur has already overcome great adversity by outlasting the fickle "flavor of the week" mentality that befalls most U.K. acts.
"When we first started, our second single went top ten, and we suffered for that," says Albarn. "We spent nearly two years being rather unpopular, and when you get to that point where you've been liked and then dismissed, it's very difficult to come back because people have a very clear perception of you.
"I suppose it was sheer bloody-mindedness and hard work that dragged us out of that mire. Very, very few bands in this country can do that. The last one was THE CURE."
-30-
DISCOGRAPHY
1991 -- Leisure -- Food/EMI
1992 -- Modern Life Is Rubbish
1993 -- Parklife
1994 -- The Great Escape
1996 -- Blur
1998 -- 13
1998 -- Live At Budokan (Japan Only)
COLLABORATIONS
1993 -- Various Artists, Peace Together
1994 -- Various Artists, Scoop This Too!
1995 -- Various Artists, Help
1996 -- Various Artists, Trainspotting
1997 -- Various Artists, To Predict The Future...It's Best To Invent It Virgin (Promo Only)
1997 -- Various Artists, Welcome To Sarajevo
1998 -- Various Artists, Dead Man On Campus
1999 -- Various Artists, Cruel Intentions
1999 -- Various Artists, Splendor
2000 -- Various Artists, The Beach
SIDE PROJECTS
1997 -- Damon Albarn, Welcome To Sarajevo
1998 -- Graham Coxon, The Sky's Too High
1998 -- Damon Albarn, Dave Rowntree with Matt Sharp, Random
1999 -- Damon Albarn with Michael Nyman, Ravenous
FAST FACTS
These middle class art school grads were originally known as Seymour in the late '80s.
The Official Blur biography - "3862 Days - The Official History of Blur" by Stuart Maconie is now out in the U.K. via Virgin Publishing
Damon Albarn is working on three movie soundtracks: Ordinary Decent Criminal, The General, starring Kevin Spacey, and the Icelandic movie, 101 Reykjavik.
THANKS: Liz McEleheran, Wade Hemsworth
©1995, 1999 Nick Krewen, Octopus Media Ink
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