Blur have announced that they will release 'The Magic Whip', their first album in 12 years, on April 27.
The band – Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree – made the announcement at press conference hosted by outgoing BBC Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe at Chinese restaurant The Golden Phoenix in London's West End, which is ongoing at present.
The album's producer, Stephen Street, also attended.
Blur recorded an album's worth of material in five days in Hong Kong in May 2013.
However, in an interview published by NME in July 2014, Damon Albarn said that because he likes to work in shorter, more concentrated periods of time he feared that he would never return to the tracks the band made while in Asia.
"There are about 15 songs we recorded in Hong Kong," he said at the time. "The annoying thing is, if I'd been able to write the lyrics there and then about being there, we'd have finished the record. But sometimes, if you can't do it all at once, it dissipates really and I don't know what I'd sing about now with that record. There's some great tunes on there, but it may just be one of those records that never comes out."

當海潮湧向礁岩
浪沫撫過了礫石灘
我們潛入太平洋
仰望海面穿透而下的光

這是一張關於海洋的專輯，延伸自2013年的《邊境消逝》，描繪的是台灣的東海岸，以及包圍著東部小島的太平洋。我們以音樂模擬海的各種樣態，包括了難以捉摸的海流、高高撐起的長浪、礁岩旁的碎浪、來回撫觸岸灘的浪沫……

為了這次的創作，我們來回數次東海岸，從花東交界的壯闊礁岩、阿朗壹古道、綠島的燕魚群、蘭嶼一望無際的清澈海底，找到了觸發靈感的泉源。這些以海為題的音樂起於花蓮的石梯坪，〈當海潮湧向礁岩〉用鋼琴的五拍節奏形容滾動的渦流，並由弦樂各自代表海流、潮汐、海流、海浪以及礁岩上濺起的浪花。〈浪沫撫過礫石灘〉的場景則來到阿朗壹古道，從圓滾滾的南田石反省台灣海岸的現狀。

首曲〈日出〉由A調出發，敘述在蘭嶼看日出的歡樂過程。也許因為A調的音樂經常是色彩斑斕的，也因為A這個音是弦樂調音的基準，我們直覺地將之比擬為海平面，象徵以海定位所有感知的島民生活。〈潛入太平洋〉用橫越四個八度的Ａ音，從海面向下勾勒出海中深邃的空間，當海流從上下左右流竄而過，我們仍佇立於同一個深度。〈在無垠世界的海邊相聚〉也以A為主音，刻劃的是夜晚的海灘，曲名源於泰戈爾的〈海邊〉（On the Seashore）。

為了更了解海洋，我們開始學習潛水。永遠忘不了在蘭嶼的第一次，我們從海面下沉，清澈得能看見五十公尺遠。抬頭仰望，水面像是一片搖晃的鏡子，陽光穿透而下，宛如閃耀的簾幕。幾位潛伴懸在前方，被光包圍著；身旁的小魚貼著我們，在我們吐出的泡泡中一同前行。這個瞬間孕育了終曲〈仰望海平面〉。在我們以音樂分享這趟東海岸之旅後，也企圖透過此曲回歸到人的情感面。

生活於海島的我們，從小到大總有數不清的故事是在海的陪伴中發生的。我們必定在海邊度過許多快樂的時光，也一定曾經獨自悲傷地看海，與大海有關的記憶是五彩繽紛也深沉靜謐的。於是這張專輯便長成了現在這副模樣，有陽光、有晚風，有青春熱鬧，也有探入內心的自省──大海映照出的就是這些說不完的故事。
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就如陸蟬般拉長身影，隱身於深藍一片，感受海的孕育、脈動、蛻變。經歷了美好、耳濡了衝擊。Cicada的內太空，帶來海面下的感動。
──拓荒者潛水教練／Ken

我喜歡這樣想，廣大的流行樂世界還有很多空間，還少了很多創造，而踩著新古典／獨立／跨界前進的他們，正捏著一個新角色要加入。
──StreetVoice音樂頻道總監／小樹

我總覺得，最好的音樂應該要是一扇任意之門。謝謝Cicada，帶我回到／去到家一般的遠方。
──作家／林達陽

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