William Orbit

This has been a rough year for Blur fans. First they get to the sky by the sole news of their favourite band re-uniting to play an Olympic games closing show, then they get in line for buying tickets to Blur’s gigs at various major festivals and have their hopes up about possibly getting a new album, when suddenly Damon Albarn crashes their dreams by ruling out the idea of Blur ever recording again. Or so they say. Later Damon came forward for another interview on the subject, saying that he doesn’t really know what the future for Blur would be. For all we know, he’s just playing the fans in a major conspiracy we don’t suspect yet.

Because as NME’s latest interview with producer William Orbit revealed, it was none other than Damon Albarn himself that halted Blur’s recording sessions. The band was in studio recording what could be their eighth and much anticipated album, when suddenly Damon stopped the sessions three weeks ago.

According to Orbit, the new stuff sounded amazing: “Then it all stopped suddenly. It was all over with Damon, and the rest of the band were like, ‘Is this it?’ “.

Whatever’s going on in Damon’s head, he might have tried to share it with the public back in April when talking to The Guardian: “I find it very easy to record with Graham”, he had said then. “He’s a daily musician. With the other two, it’s harder for them to reconnect. You know what I mean? It’s fine when we play live – it’s really magical still – but actually recording new stuff, and swapping musical influences… it’s quite difficult.”

Maybe there’s still a chance for the sessions to be restarted, and fans might still get their hands on new Blur material. But at least the band will be treating them with huge Special Edition box set featuring what looks like all things Blur on July 30. And have several live shows to play yet. So don’t get your hopes down just yet.