Blur announces the release of new album 'The Ballad of Darren' - hear the enticing first track 'The Narcissist' now

Blur is set to release the new album 'The Ballad of Darren' in July

Blur / Photo: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis

Never say "never"! Blur has surprised the music world and just announced (Thursday, May 18) the release of a new album titled The Ballad of Darren coming July 21, 2023 via Parlophone. Check out the fantastic advance single "The Narcissist" available as an official visualiser video HERE! I can't wait to hear the entire album when it's released in two months.

The Ballad of Darren will be released two weeks after Blur's highly-anticipated concerts at Wembley Stadium. The album marks Blur's first new full-length studio disc since 2015's amazing The Magic Whip (that LP was among my favorite albums of 2015; read my review HERE)

Produced by James Ford, the new album is Blur's ninth studio album.

Damon Albarn greeting the faithful in
Dublin on August 1, 2013. 

I have seen Blur several times. Read my review of the band's memorable performance at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 1, 2013 HERE.

The Ballad of Darren will be available in a number of editions and can be pre-ordered HERE. Please note: some editions include two additional tracks.

Here is the track list for The Ballad of Darren:

The Ballad
St. Charles Square
Barbaric
Russian Strings
The Everglades (For Leonard)
The Narcissist
Goodbye Albert
Far Away Island
Avalon
The Heights

Robert Kinsler