Blur - The Magic Whip at 10

When Blur reunited in 2008 for headline performances at Glastonbury and Hyde Park the following summer, it felt like a triumphant victory lap. Then, coerced to participate in the 2012 London Olympic celebrations, they put on another huge show at Hyde Park but throughout were coy about releasing a new album. While they did pepper the comebacks with a few standalone releases (‘Fool’s Day’ in 2010 and ‘Under the Westway’ with B-side ‘The Puritan’), both seemed to suggest that a full-blown return to studio albums was unlikely.

However, circumstances changed their minds after a headline slot at Tokyo Rocks Music Festival was cancelled for reasons unknown in 2013. Stranded in Hong Kong for five extra days, the band made use of the time by entering Avon Studios to record new material, forming the foundation for what would become The Magic Whip, though – at the time – Damon Albarn expressed uncertainty about its future. That sense of hesitation and fragmentation ultimately shaped the character of the album itself.

https://www.clashmusic.com/features/blurs-the-magic-whip-at-10/