Reunited Blur Writing New Songs

Fresh off their first reunion shows last weekend, Blur are already working on some new songs during their rehearsals and jam sessions, guitarist Graham Coxon and bassist Alex James tell BBC's 6 Music. The fresh tracks are the first the band has worked on collectively since the sessions for Think Tank's closer "Battery In Your Leg," the last Blur song to feature writing credits for Coxon in 2003.

Even though the Brit-pop band is jamming out new material, fans shouldn't expect to hear any new tracks during their reunion tour. "We wouldn't want to just sling stuff together to play this summer. It wouldn't be right," Coxon says, adding that they don't just want to rush out new material. "We really don't want to put ourselves under any pressure. I think we want to have fun with these gigs and then we'll think about that really." The Damon Albarn-fronted quartet will close out the Glastonbury Festival with a headlining set on June 28th.

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter