Blur frontman Damon Albarn has revealed that one of the songs on the band’s forthcoming album The Magic Whip was inspired by the tragic events of December’s Sydney siege hostage crisis in Martin Place.
Albarn, who had to reschedule his Sydney Opera House solo performance due to the siege, has told NME that he watched the events play out from his hotel room, and used it as inspiration for the song There Are Too Many Of Us.
“Probably the initial idea came from being in a very claustrophobic city, but I actually finished the lyric after having come back from Australia, and I was there the day that they had the hostage situation in the chocolate shop, which was an extraordinary thing to witness, because I was staying in a hotel where I could literally see what was going on outside and watch it on television,” Albarn said.
“Being in that position, as a songwriter that’s a very interesting standpoint – seeing it there and out the window it’s happening. Seeing the reality of what was happening and how it was being distorted through the prism of [the camera] was kind of fascinating.”
There Are Too Many Of Us appears on The Magic Whip, which will be the first new Blur album since 2003’s Think Tank when it finally sees a release on 24th April. The band announced The Magic Whip and shared the album’s first single, Go Out (below), last week.
Watch: Blur – Go Out
