Blur - The Ballad of Darren (Deluxe) [Bonus Track Version] (2023) [Hi-Res]

"Middle-age regrets voiced in gorgeous tunes: Nostalgic melancholy fills Blur’s ninth studio release, a courageous album that shows the band have something germane to say about getting old."
- The Guardian

"The Britpop icons contemplate middle-age turbulence and inertia on a meticulously polished reunion album."
- Pitchfork

English rock band Blur release their ninth studio album, The Ballad of Darren, via Parlophone and Warner Records. The album was produced by James Ford at Studio 13 in London and Devon (the first time since 2003's Think Tank to not featured the longtime producer Stephen Street). It is Blur's first album since The Magic Whip (2015), the band's shortest album and the first with a runtime under 50 minutes.

Albarn wrote demos for the album while touring with Gorillaz, in 2022. He recalled: "I recorded in a lot of conference rooms but I did actually have a wonderful moment in Montreal. Opposite my [hotel] room was this fantastic mural of Leonard Cohen."

Some of the songs were demo'd during that time, and by New Year's Eve he had 24 songs. In January 2023, Blur began recording material at Albarn's Studio 13 in London and Devon. James Ford, who previously worked with Gorillaz and Coxon's band the Waeve, produced the album. The record was finished by the first week of May 2023. Albarn described The Ballad of Darren as "the first legit Blur album since 13, because we approached it like we would have approached making a record before, with all of us together in the room."