Hong Kong's 'intense environment' shaped new Blur album, The Magic Whip
Guitarist reveals story behind British band deciding to record in city in 2013
Blur's new album The Magic Whip was heavily influenced by the Hong Kong environment in which it was recorded, according to the band's guitarist Graham Coxon.
The main recording sessions for the album, which will be released April 27, took place in June 2013 at Kowloon's Avon Studios after concerts in Japan were cancelled.
“Obviously the city is going to make its way into the music,” said Coxon. “A lot of the stuff guitar-wise reflected my anxiety at the intense environment of Hong Kong. And you have this kind of dislocation when you're not recording in your own city.”
The idea of recording in Hong Kong was entirely spontaneous, he added. “It just came up. The management said: look, the shows in Japan have fallen through, and Damon [singer Damon Albarn] said, 'It might be rather nice, rather than just going home and coming back, to give the crew a few days off and find a local studio.'
A lot of the stuff guitar-wise reflected my anxiety at the intense environment of Hong Kong
“It was very casually put together. We were all recording in the same room, and we had to step over the guys working there to get into the studio.