Blur Share Previously Unreleased Song ‘Sticks And Stones’
Blur have shared a previously unreleased song from the sessions for latest album The Ballad Of Darren, listen below.
buy blur – the ballad of darren here
Sticks And Stones, sung by guitarist Graham Coxon, is a bonus track from the Japanese special edition of The Ballad Of Darren.
In a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, frontman Damon Albarn recalled the first time he showed his bandmates the demos for The Ballad Of Darren and admitted he only wanted Coxon to be in the studio for sessions at the beginning.
“When I finished the demos and I felt I’d got something I’m excited about, I got everyone into a studio in January this year. I just sort of sat them down and I said, ‘Right. This is what I’ve got. You choose what you want to use from it and we move forward from that,’” Albarn said.
“At the beginning, I really didn’t want anyone in the studio but Graham [Coxon] to start off with, but the other two said, ‘No. We want to stay here if that’s all right’… and they did,” he added. “Do you know what? It was the best thing really. It was the best thing…The reward of everyone playing together is one I do acknowledge as being maybe the greatest. You’ve got to keep it real.”
Reflecting on reuniting with his old bandmates, Albarn said, “I’ve been playing with them since I was a kid. So to be able to chart that ridiculous journey from being teenagers to being five years off 60 is quite… It’s a little bit odd but wonderful at the same time, It’s wonderful.”
The Ballad Of Darren is Blur’s ninth studio album and became their seventh UK No 1 album on its release last month.
buy blur – the ballad of darren here