BLUR: NEW ALBUM THE MAGIC WHIP OUT APRIL 28

LONDON HYDE PARK SHOW ANNOUNCED FOR JUNE 20

ANNOUNCED AT LIVE FACEBOOK EVENT IN LONDON’S CHINATOWN

It’s 16 years since their last album as a four-piece and April 28 sees the release of a brand new album from blur on Warner Bros., titled The Magic Whip.

The recordings, which began during a five-day break in touring in Spring 2013 – at Avon Studios in Kowloon, Hong Kong – were put aside when the group finished touring and returned to their respective lives.

Last November, Graham Coxon revisited the tracks and, drafting in blur’s early producer Stephen Street, he worked with the band on the material. Albarn then added lyrics and the 12 tracks of The Magic Whipare the result.

The full tracklisting is:

Lonesome Street
New World Towers
Go Out
Ice Cream Man
Thought I Was a Spaceman
I Broadcast
My Terracotta Heart
There are Too Many of Us
Ghost Ship
Pyongyang
Ong Ong
Mirror Ball

See the video for the first track off the album “Go Out” here: http://smarturl.it/61i8sg

The Magic Whip will be available as a digital download, on CD and as a 2-disc vinyl set.

As the only artists to play Hyde Park four times, blur will return to the historic London park for a headline show on Saturday, June 20 as part of Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park. Tickets go on general sale at 9am GMT on Friday, February 27 and are priced from £75, for full details visit www.bst-hydepark.com.

News of blur’s new album and show was announced exclusively with Facebook at a press conference in London’s Chinatown which also gave fans across the world the chance to be part of the event via a live stream and Q&A. With millions of fans following blur on Facebook, this was an opportunity for the band to speak directly to their fans in real time, answering questions via their profile page.