Between his new solo album, his musical, and possibly a new Gorillaz album, Damon Albarn is one of the busiest people working in music, and was bound to drop the ball on at least one of his projects eventually. Unfortunately, he seems to have dropped the ball on his most anticipated project of all. In a new interview with NME, Albarn admits that the new album he started recording with Blur last year may never actually be finished, taking most of the blame for it himself and his inability to write enough lyrics in time.
"There are about 15 songs we recorded in Hong Kong," Albarn said. "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."
Albarn goes on to discuss his preference for completing albums quickly, which apparently wasn't happening with this Blur album. In addition to his writer's block, he also blames the album's slow progress on something far less (or perhaps far more) poetic: the weather.
"I'd do some more work on it," Albarn revealed. "I like making records in short periods of time if I can. It was a different process with Everyday Robots because that was really thought out, but sometimes it's great to get some amazing energy and do something in 10 days. There was too much commuting between where we were staying and where we were recording and it was a bit too hot. I think that's why we didn't get it finished."
Blur's last studio album was 2003's Think Tank, and though we may not be getting another one any time soon, the band will be releasing the live album Live at the Budokan on August 11, which documents Blur's performance at The Budokan in Japan back in 1995.
