The Magic Whip
studio
ArtistBlur
CoverBlur MagicWhip 2015.jpg
Released27 April 2015
RecordedMay 2013, November 2014 – January 2015
Studio
  • Avon Studios, Hong Kong
  • Studio 13, London
Genre
Length51:42
Label
Producer
Prev year2012
Next year2023

The Magic Whip (stylised in Chinese text as 魔鞭) is the eighth studio album by English rock band Blur. Recorded in Hong Kong and London, it was released by Parlophone in the United Kingdom on 27 April 2015 and a day later by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. It was the band's first studio album in 12 years, marking the longest gap between studio albums in Blur's career, and the first in 16 years since 13 (1999) to have featured the original line-up (Coxon featuring on only one song on Think Tank).[2] The album also marked the return of the band's longtime producer Stephen Street following Blur (1997).

The album received acclaim from music critics. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, marking Blur's sixth UK number-one album. It was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 100,000 copies. It was the first album by the band in North America under Warner Bros., after Blur were transferred from Virgin Records in 2013, following the purchase of EMI and its assets by the Universal Music Group in 2012.

Background

In May 2013, Blur were set to play Japan's Tokyo Rocks Music festival. However, the entire festival was canceled for unknown reasons, leaving the band stranded in Hong Kong for an extra five days. In an attempt to distract themselves, they worked on new material in Avon Studios, as announced by lead singer Damon Albarn during the gig at AsiaWorld–Expo, Chek Lap Kok. Albarn later stated he was unsure whether the resulting music would ever be released. In July 2014, he commented, "There are about 15 songs...the annoying thing is, if I'd been able to write the lyrics there and then about being there, we'd have finished the record. But sometimes, if you can't do it all at once, it dissipates really and I don't know what I'd sing about now with that record. There's some great tunes on there, but it may just be one of those records that never comes out."[3]

In November 2014, Graham Coxon started to work further on the recordings with producer Stephen Street, while Albarn was touring his solo album, Everyday Robots (2014). Coxon commented "I kept thinking about the recordings we had made in Hong Kong and remembering how good it felt. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I hadn't had another look".[2] Coxon would secretly invite Alex James and Dave Rowntree to further recording sessions to build upon the material. Once nearing completion, Coxon presented the music to Albarn to see if it was worthy of an album. On the way back from his tour of Australia in December, Albarn stopped in Hong Kong once more for lyrical inspiration. Vocals were completed towards the end of January 2015 and the album's mastering was finished on 18 February 2015, the day before the album was announced to the press in London's Chinatown.[4]

The album was reissued as a zoetrope picture disc for Record Store Day 2025.[5]

Artwork and title

The cover art has the words blur and magic whip written in Chinese surrounding an ice cream cone, and was created by Tony Hung, who created the music video for "Go Out". Hung met with Albarn in 2015 and was shown photos and ephemera from Albarn's travels in Hong Kong. Hung said that the album title was "multifaceted" as Albarn himself explained to him. "An ice cream in the UK, a firework in China and a 'whip' in a political sense."[6]

Promotion

The video for "Go Out" was uploaded to YouTube on 19 February 2015. Videos for "There Are Too Many of Us", "Lonesome Street", "Ong Ong", and "I Broadcast" followed on 20 March, 2 April, 3 June, and 8 September 2015, respectively.[7][8][9][10][11] "Ong Ong", along with "My Terracotta Heart" and "I Broadcast" were previously made available shortly before the album's release as promotional singles, and their official audios were uploaded to YouTube on 18, 21 and 23 April 2015, respectively.[12][13] "Y'all Doomed", the bonus track on the Japanese edition, was released as a 7-inch single on 27 April 2015.[14] "Ghost Ship", alongside a re-release of "I Broadcast", were later released as promotional singles on 23 October 2015.[15][16]

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 81, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 35 reviews.[17]

DIY magazine critic Stephen Ackroyd stated: "Their magic remains as strong as ever."[18] Helen Brown of The Daily Telegraph stated that the album "turns out to be a triumphant comeback", and noted that "it retains the band's core identity while allowing ideas they'd fermented separately over the past decade to infuse their sound with mature and peculiar new flavour combinations."[19] Andy Gill of The Independent gave the album a positive review, calling it "a beautiful comeback".[20] Spin writer Andrew Unterberger gave the album an 8/10 rating and said, "Magic Whip is a fun album, nearly as much as any Gorillaz LPs", adding, "Magic Whip finds enough majesty and intrigue in the band's more meditative days to remain worthy company to any of the band's classic LPs."[21] Writing for Rolling Stone and giving the album four out of five stars, David Fricke called the album "A dark, seductive set that cements a legacy", stating that "Blur have returned with inspiration to spare."[22]

Accolades

Accolades for The Magic Whip
PublicationAccoladeYearRank
NMENME's Albums of the Year 20152015
15[23]
StereogumThe 50 Best Albums of 20152015
23[24]
Rolling Stone50 Best Albums of 20152015
10[25]

Personnel

Blur

  • Damon Albarn – vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, iPad, acoustic guitar
  • Graham Coxon – electric guitar, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Lonesome Street", "Thought I Was a Spaceman", and "Y'all Doomed"
  • Alex James – bass guitar
  • Dave Rowntree – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel

  • Stephen Street – production, programming, percussion, drum machine, "saxophones" (synthesizers) on "Ghost Ship"
  • James Dring – drum machine, drum programming
  • Demon Strings – orchestration

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for The Magic Whip
Chart (2015–2025)Peak
position
Croatia International Albums (HDU)[26]12
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27]5

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for The Magic Whip
Chart (2015)Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28]85
French Albums (SNEP)[29]141
UK Albums (OCC)[30]59

References

  1. ^ Prevost, Dinorah (13 May 2015). "Review: With 'The Magic Whip' Blur doesn't miss a beat". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  2. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (1 March 2015). "Graham Coxon on the Blur reunion: 'Pop doesn't have to be a fleeting thing'". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Damon Albarn Interview – NME (29–07–14)". NME. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Blur Interview – BBC Radio 6 Music, Steve Lamacq (19-02-2015)". 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015. – via YouTube.
  5. ^ Dunworth, Liberty (7 February 2025). "Blur announce 10th anniversary editions of ‘The Magic Whip’ and new merch capsule". NME. Archived 3 April 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  6. ^ Sinclair, Mark (17 March 2015). "The Magic Whip – the making of Blur's new album cover". Creative Review. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  7. ^ Krep, Daniel (20 March 2015). "Hear Blur's Majestic New Doom-and-Gloom Song "There Are Too Many of Us"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  8. ^ Payne, Chris (2 April 2015). "Join a Magic Line Dancing Crew For Blur's New 'Lonesome Street' Video". Billboard. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  9. ^ Vincent, Alice (19 February 2015). "Watch Blur's new video: Go Out". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  10. ^ Monroe, Jazz (8 September 2015). "Blur Collage Tons of Fan Movies for 'I Broadcast' Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  11. ^ Kreps, Daniel (3 June 2015). "Watch Blur Go 8-Bit in Zany "Ong Ong" Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  12. ^ Geslani, Michelle (18 April 2015). "Blur shares new song 'My Terracotta Heart'". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  13. ^ Britton, Luke Morgan (20 April 2015). "Blur premiere new track 'Ong Ong' – listen". NME. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  14. ^ "'Y'all Doomed' 7" vinyl available at HMV UK". Blur.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  15. ^ Blur. "Ghost Ship" (sleeve). Parlophone, Warner Music Group. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  16. ^ Blur. "I Broadcast" (sleeve). Parlophone, Warner Music Group. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  17. ^ "Reviews for The Magic Whip by Blur". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  18. ^ Ackroyd, Stephen (April 2015). "Blur – The Magic Whip". DIY. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  19. ^ Brown, Helen (1 April 2015). "Blur, The Magic Whip, album review: 'a triumphant comeback'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  20. ^ Gill, Andy (31 March 2015). "Blur, The Magic Whip, album review: 'A beautiful comeback'". The Independent. Archived 18 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  21. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (28 April 2015). "Blur, 'The Magic Whip' (Parlophone)". Spin. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  22. ^ Fricke, David (28 April 2015). "The Magic Whip". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  23. ^ "NME'S Albums of the Year 2015". NME. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  24. ^ "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". Stereogum. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  25. ^ "50 Best Albums Of 2015". Rolling Stone. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-01.[dead link]
  26. ^ "Lista prodaje (strano) 15. tjedan 2025. (07.04.2025. - 13.04.2025.)" (in Croatian). Top lista. 24 April 2025. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  27. ^ "ザ・マジック・ウィップ | ブラー" [The Magic Whip | Blur] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  28. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2015 – Albums" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  29. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2015" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  30. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2015". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 March 2016.