Tuesday, April 6, 1999
By KIERAN GRANT -- Toronto Sun
TORONTO -- Damon Albarn has some explaining to do.
The frontman and principal songwriter for quintessential Britpop
band Blur, he's just thrown his fans a curveball: His band's new
album, 13.
Along with his bandmates, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex
James and drummer Dave Rowntree, he's decided to chuck touring,
save for a handful of select shows, including Blur's sold-out gig
tonight at Toronto's Palais Royale.
And he wants to become an Icelandic hermit.
Chilling out in a downtown hotel room yesterday, Albarn defies
the odds -- in that couldn't-give-a-toss way that has become
Blur's only real trademark -- and makes sense of it all.
"We're trying to design a new way of working," the
smart, likable 31-year-old singer says as he pours a cup of
coffee.
For instance, "Touring does not give you enough time to
write and think and listen to music. By the very nature of
touring you're under an obligation to dwell on certain songs.
That only frustrates us.
"And," he adds with a smile, "we don't need to do
it for the money."
Since 1991, Blur's albums -- Leisure, Modern Life Is Rubbish,
Parklife, The Great Escape and Blur -- have secured the group
superstardom in the U.K., a sizable following in North America,
and the enviable income that goes with it. Add the cash flow
generated by their 1997 U.S. hit Song 2 -- with the instantly
recognizable "woo-hoo!" refrain bought by Labatt for
their TV ads -- and Blur are millionaires. (The U.S. military
even wanted to buy Song 2 for the unveiling of its B-2 Stealth
bomber. Wisely, Blur declined -- they had enough money already,
thank you.)
All this, Albarn says, has afforded him a very special luxury: He
can do what he wants, creatively.
13, for instance, is an interesting commercial gamble.
Recorded with techno-maven and Madonna collaborator William Orbit
in various locales, including Blur's London-based 13 Studio and
Reykjavik, Iceland, where Albarn owns a home/retreat, it's a
strange, ambitious, staggering tour to the centre of a band in
musical flux.
The jaunty but sardonic pop tales of yesterday's Blur are dusted
in favour of fuzzed-out oddities and two gospel-tinged
heartbreakers, including first single Tender.
"It's like a kid with his Lego, isn't it?," says
Albarn. "There's an infinite amount of things to do with it.
Hopefully at the end of this, the pieces will be all over the
floor again."
13 is also Albarn's first truly personal album, inspired by the
end of his seven-year relationship with Elastica leader Justine
Frischmann.
"Forevermore, this will be my exit from that part of my
life," he says. "It's a celebration of the whole thing
even though it was acrimonious. I feel like I've given it a ...
"
Viking funeral?
"Exactly."
Speaking of, Albarn is nearing his application date for dual
British/Icelandic citizenship. The volcanic island, with its tiny
but sophisticated population, is the ideal sanctuary for the
singer's burgeoning film-scoring career, which started when he
recorded some ambient music for Trainspotting in 1996. Albarn
recently paired with Michael Nyman for the soundtrack of the new
movie Ravenous, is completing a score for an Icelandic film, and
may work on the controversial The Beach, which stars Leonardo
DiCaprio.
"I want to become anonymous," Albarn says. "Not a
complete recluse, but not have to sell myself on anything other
than my music.
"I feel lucky that I'm even getting the chance. I guess my
classical training has paid off. It's been a bane in my life
because in England I'm always being accused of being a
middle-class prat. Hopefully I'll get the last laugh on
that."