Ahead of their performance at the Olympic closing ceremony in August, Blur will be debuting two brand new songs via a live worldwide video stream. The songs have been written specifically for the gig on 12th August, but you’ll be able to hear them, along with an exclusive interview with the band, through Blur’s official Twitter from 6.15pm BST on Monday 2nd July.
You can listen to celebrity cheese maker Alex James talking about the songs here. ‘The Puritan’ is apparently a "big and bouncy, up-and-at-em, sing-along special". ‘Under The Westway’, meanwhile, is “more a hymn”. Speaking to The Quietus in March, Damon Albarn described the latter song as a "wistful national anthem" inspired by the Westway route. He also hinted that the song could be his last for the band, speculating that it might be “a last little coda to the whole story.”
After the stream, both songs will be available to download, and will be released on limited edition seven-inch through Parlophone on 6th August – so you’ll be expected to know all the words come the 12th.
In the meantime, you can brush up on your lesser-known Blur gems here.
