What do the big Britpop bands have with swimming pools anyway?
Oasis even derived their band name from it, posing on the cover of
Be Here Now (1997) by the swimming pool of a hotel in Hertfordshire. On debut album
Leisure (1991) by then-archrivals Blur, a lady with ostentatious bathing cap appears in an indoor swimming pool. And now, more than 30 years later, what do we see on the cover of Blur's
… first album since The Magic Whip (2015)? An intriguing photo of the Gourock Outdoor Pool near Glasgow, showing a lone and unsuspecting swimmer. Insofar as the image evokes nostalgic feelings - as pools can do with their specific smells and sounds - it ties in nicely with the content on offer. On the mostly quiet The Ballad Of Darren, the Colchester/London foursome looks back on people, relationships and feelings. 'We've lost the feeling that we thought we'd never lose,' sings Damon Albarn in Barbaric, which, with The Narcissist and Goodbye Albert, is among the finest melodies in Blur's oeuvre. (RME)more
