Toward the back end of last week, Blur announced news of The Magic Whip, their first new album for 12 years.

News arrived literally out of nowhere, drawing to a close the ‘will they, won’t they’ saga which has festered since their reformation back in 2009. Since ’09 new material has been noticeably lean much to the ire of fans who no doubt wondered if anything more substantial would ever surface (me being one). Aside from gigs, we’ve been privy to three new tracks during that time: the one-off Record Store Day release ‘Fool’s Day‘ in 2010 and double single ‘Under the Westway/The Puritan‘, in 2012. So, yeah, a new album has been a long time coming but accompanying all this fanfare is new single, ‘Go Out’. Sitting somewhere between their self-titled album and 13, the choppy guitar, submerged keys and loping bass provide something of a nervy, stop-start kind of groove. It feels experimental yet immediate, rambling yet to the point and when you get down to it, this is a peculiar little jam – and therein lies its charm. Brilliant stuff.

The Magic Whip will be released on 27 April & Blur will also play a show at Hyde Park in London on June 20th, the first of a few more big dates surely?