Blur will release The Ballad of Darren - their first album in eight years - in July on the Parlophone label.
Produced by James Ford and recorded at Studio 13, London and Devon, The Ballad of Darren is the band’s ninth studio album, their first since the chart-topping The Magic Whip in 2015, with artwork featuring an image by British photographer Martin Parr.
It will be available on various formats from 21 July. The first release from the album, The Narcissist, is out now.
The Ballad of Darren track listing is: The Ballad, St Charles Square, Barbaric, Russian Strings, The Everglades (For Leonard), The Narcissist, Goodbye Albert, Far Away Island, Avalon and The Heights.
"This is an aftershock record, reflection and comment on where we find ourselves now," says front man Damon Albarn.
Guitarist Graham Coxon adds: "The older and madder we get, it becomes more essential that what we play is loaded with the right emotion and intention. Sometimes just a riff doesn’t do the job."
Today’s surprise announcement comes ahead of the band’s return to the place where it all began - Colchester, Essex - for their first ever performance at local landmark Colchester Arts Centre tomorrow.
This gig marks the start of a short run of warm-up performances which will see Blur visit Eastbourne Winter Gardens, The Halls Wolverhampton and O2 City Hall Newcastle.
These warm-up dates are kicking off a summer of live shows which will bring Alex James, Albarn, Coxon and Dave Rowntree together again to perform their songs across Europe, including a sold-out show at Malahide Castle, Dublin on 24 June.
The band’s first ever show at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday 8 July sold out in minutes – with a second Wembley Stadium show added for Sunday 9 July.
