Blur wanted to ‘kill stink of Britpop’

OHMYGOSSIP — Graham Coxon says Blur tried to “kill any stink of Britpop” when they were making their self-titled 1997 album.
The band released their fifth album – simply titled ‘Blur’ – in 1997 as a follow-up to their 1995 hit ‘The Great Escape’ and it featured a change in both style and sound for the indie rockers – and Graham has now confessed they deliberately tried to move away from the Britpop craze of their heyday.
He told Mojo magazine: “We felt forced into this strange Britpop thing, which we had nothing to do with, but I suppose [on ‘Blur’] we tried to kill any stink of Britpop from our clothes and move away from our beloved Kinks – though there was still Bowie, because of Damon and [producer] Stephen Street. I think we found our own heavy psychedelia, rather than staying with Toad-of-Toad-Hall psychedelia.”
The guitarist admitted he was given more of a chance to steer the direction of the record and acknowledges it’s often thought of as a “Graham album”.
He also insisted their record label bosses weren’t worried about the new sound because they were thrilled with the single ‘Song 2’ which became a huge hit and helped the album become their most successful release in America.
Graham said: ” I don’t know what concerns EMI had, because they loved ‘Song 2’, which we had played them for a laugh. We had ‘Beetlebum’ too … It’s an unfocused album but each song has its own personality, which can be tricky to achieve …
“If anyone was going to have a go at a Blur album, it would have been this one, because of its self-indulgent moments. I can’t recall how it was reviewed, or particularly liked, but it came from an authentic place, and then it’s hard to rip it to shreds. Authenticity is an amazing force field!”

Source: IconInsider.com

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