(Credits: Far Out / Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Sun 22 June 2025 10:00, UK
Let’s face it, out of the Britpop crop, there were no other bands quite as far-reaching as Blur.
Sure, Suede were certainly artistically adventurous in their own way, and Pulp had a high-brow and sophisticated quality to their music, but nobody travelled quite as far across the musical map as the Essex band did across their seven studio albums in their initial run as a group. I’ve removed Oasis from the conversation entirely here because, despite how good some of their work is, you sort of know what you’re getting with an Oasis record.
For the majority of their first stint as a band, Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon were the driving force behind Blur, and between them, they pushed and pulled the group in a variety of directions. Despite occasional forays into noisy, slacker rock inspired cuts on later albums such as Blur and 13, Albarn ultimately seemingly won the tug-of-war when Coxon departed during the creation of Think Tank, a record that encompasses Albarn’s love of music from around the world and attempts to squeeze them into the Blur ethos with mixed results.
However, it’s Albarn’s extra-curricular activities that have been even more widespread, with his primary project outside of Blur being Gorillaz, a virtual quasi-hip-hop group that he established with the help of an ensemble cast of other esteemed guests. Not only has Gorillaz become an even more globally recognised project than Blur, but the musicians he’s courted to work on these albums have regularly returned the favour and asked him to contribute to their own music.
This is what led to an unlikely bond being formed between Albarn and Bobby Womack, with the soul singer featuring on three Gorillaz tracks prior to his death: ‘Stylo’ and ‘Cloud of Unknowing’ from 2010’s Plastic Beach, and ‘Bobby in Phoenix’ from the understated follow-up The Fall, released later the same year. In return, Womack invited Albarn to be a producer on his 2012 solo record, The Bravest Man in the Universe, a critically acclaimed neo-soul and trip-hop record that would end up being his last.
However, was this the sort of collaboration that happened by chance, or was it something that both parties actively sought out? While it’s hard to imagine Womack donning a bucket hat and bouncing around the room to ‘Girls & Boys’, and it allegedly took him some convincing from his daughter to accept the gig, Albarn has always unabashedly been a fan of Womack’s music.
In fact, in a 2015 interview with iTunes while promoting Blur’s comeback record, The Magic Whip, Albarn revealed that Womack’s 1981 album, The Poet, is his favourite record of the entire decade, and that he owes a lot to Womack for inspiration.
“I could have chosen three or four of Bobby’s,” Albarn proclaimed. “Records that kill me every time. Along with Tony Allen, he’s one of the biggest inspirations of my musical life.”
Albarn did, of course, have the pleasure of working alongside his other musical inspiration in Allen, who was the drummer for his other side project, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, alongside Paul Simonon and Simon Tong, showing just how well-connected he has become in his post-Blur years. However, it’s arguably the connection to Womack that has become one of his most celebrated partnerships, and one that was incredibly fruitful for both parties.
Related Topics
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independant voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.