Blur  by Blur

In 1997, Blur released their fifth album, which simply bears the name of the band as its title. Blur traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland, to record a significant portion of their new album, while the album was completed in London. All this took place between June and November 1996.

The musical style of the album diverges from britpop, entering the realm of indie rock and even noise rock in some cases. The majority of the compositions bear the mark of Damon Albarn in the lyrics, while the music is the work of the entire band. Stephen Street took on the production of the album, as he had done with several other albums by the band in the past. To see the band's paths cross with him again, eighteen years would have to pass.

"Beetlebum" was released as a single one month before the album, while the single "Song 2" followed a month after the release of "Blur" in April 1997. Both singles gave a significant boost to the album, which reached, as expected, No. 1 in both the UK and Iceland (!). The album "Blur" went platinum, selling over 300,000 copies, and was also a success across the Atlantic, selling close to 700,000 copies.