Alex James: Blur had same "instant connection" working on new album as they did on She's So High

26 July 2023, 18:31

Blur's Alex James talks to Chris Moyles

Alex James explained to Radio X's Chris Moyles how the band found the same "instant" magic when working on their new album.

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Alex James says Blur felt an "instant connection" the first ever time they went into the studio together and it was a similar feeling when they created their latest record.

Last week saw the Britpop band release their ninth studio album, The Ballad Of Darren, and the bassist admitted though the LP was unexpected, their connection was still as "joyous" as ever.

"That all came as a bit of a surprise actually," he told The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X. "For me, you know, Rolling Stones don't need to make another record, New Order never need to. You know, I'd always go and see them.

"But it is a bit daunting making a new record at this stage of your career, because what if it's rubbish? You've got a big problem then, haven't you?"

The Song 2 rocker added: "The main thing is the very first time we got in the studio we wrote a song together that we still play today. She's So High. It was our first single. We literally wrote that the first time we were all in a room together, so there was this instant connection between the four of us and then we spent years and years and years playing for hours and hours every day."

"We were really lucky to learn musicianship as a proper graft," he reflected. "And actually from the very first morning [making The Ballad of Darren], there wasn't much time to think 'Oh god, how's this gonna go?' We literally met in mid December and then first week of January we were in the studio.

"From the very first moment it was just instantly brilliant. It was like weightless, joyous, effortless. It was a really wonderful process making an album."

"Maybe guitarists and singers need to suffer a bit more than bass players do," the 54-year-old quipped. "They don't ever actually turn up to work unless it's hurt."

Alex James revealed how "instantly brilliant" it was working with Blur bandmates. Picture: 1. DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images 2. Radio X 3. Matt Crossick

The bassist also recalled the moment the band first met to rehearse last December to see if they could "bear it," but revealed within 20 minutes were playing together brilliantly.

"A date came up at Wembley and Damon [Albarn] wanted to meet and play a few songs to see if we could bear it," he explained.

"I bumped into the drummer [Dave Rowntree] outside the studio and he was all pale and really frightened. He was like, 'I don't think it's gonna happen mate. I don't think it's gonna happen'.

"But we went in a played a few songs and twenty minutes later, we're all like, 'Woah. This is brilliant.'"

Blur in 2023 — Blur in the studio in 2023. Picture: Bastienne Lewis/Press

After selling out the first night at Wembley, Blur went on to schedule another date the next day, eventually playing a duo of shows across the first weekend of July.

Speaking of the "fantastic" reception they received, the rocker-turned-farmer also remarked on how many teenagers and young people were in the crowds.

"It was eight years since we did any gigs," he said. "Even when we split up it didn't actually take this long [to reunite], but the amount of teenagers there are in the [crowd]. The music seems to have found a whole new audience.

"Wembley was full of Generation X-ers with their millennial kids all kind of with their arms in the air going crazy. It's been absolutely fantastic."

Asked if his kids find him cool at the moment, he replied: "Well, yeah. All it used to take was a day trip to Legoland [...] but it's been a while since the Legoland queue jump pass..."

Not content to stop there, Blur treated fans to a one-off London gig at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo to play The Ballad of Darren in full this Tuesday (15th July).

The 16-song-set, which was accompanied by a string section, also included deep cuts such as The Magic Whip's Pyongyang and Parklife's Clover Over Dover, which were both given their tour debut.

Damon Albarn and co also played Mr. Briggs for the first time since 2012 and gave Theme from an Imaginary Film its live debut, before ending their set on a stunning rendition of The Universal.

Watch them perform The Narcissist below.

Blur play The Narcissist in Hammersmith

The gig was made available to watch on livestream and on demand, but Blur have since added a "last chance" to stream the one-off global performance until Friday 28th July, with tickets costing £13.50 plus a service fee of £2.02.

Visit driift.live/shows/blur for more info.

Blur's The Ballad of Darren is out now. Stream it here: