blur – “The Narcissist”

The story of blur in the 21st century has been one of perpetual tease thanks to the many maddening creative lives of Damon Albarn, who to a Gen-Z ear is likely more known to them as the lead singer in Gorillaz than of the much, much more brilliant Brit-pop innovators from before their time. 2003′s Think Tank, their entry point into the new millennium, tangled with the temporary exit of guitarist Graham Coxon and the Y2K sea change throughout our lives while the band’s 2015 reunion album, The Magic Whip, was more greyish in its aughts malaise even by an Englishman’s standards. 8 years later, we now are tasked with picking apart “The Narcissist”, the first single from blur’s 9th studio effort, The Ballad of Darren, and while the road to get here has felt like a very winded one, it is with the utmost pleasure in writing that this is version of blur we could only hope to hear more from in modern times. Albarn again steps into one of his messy character sketches, but this time from the other end of a hapless lad, and the alternative to what the song title suggests, wholesomely self-aware of how the world reflects upon his actions. “Oh, glorious world / Oh, potent waves valleys gone wild / Connect us to love and keep us peaceful for a while,” he sings at one point. With every melody, Albarn, Coxon, drummer David Rountree, and bassist Alex James do just the same instrumentally – the sound of familiar patterns rediscovering one another a couple of decades later, give or take a crease of subtle synths and riffs ruffled by indie rock currents, shining their light on each other once again.