Tryo

@trytrytrytry

blur

blur is that 90s london band that turned everyday british boredom into an aesthetic. formed in 1988: damon albarn on vocals, graham coxon on guitar, alex james on bass, dave rowntree on drums. first album leisure was very “we’re feeling the madchester/shoegaze thing.” then they realized being painfully british suits them better. modern life is rubbish, parklife, the great escape… this trilogy basically wrote the britpop manual. “girls & boys” was everywhere. and of course the 1995 oasis chart battle, tabloids, drama, nationalism, the whole circus. for a while blur felt like the clever art school alternative to oasis’ pub rock swagger. then they got bored of that too. the self titled blur (1997) leaned into american indie noise and gave the world “song 2” that woo hoo track every sports arena still abuses. 13 was darker, more personal, more experimental. think tank went further into electronic and world influences, with coxon barely involved. then they more or less disappeared. reunion in 2009, nostalgia tours, brit awards, the magic whip in 2015 topping charts again. long silence. then the ballad of darren in 2023, older, more reflective, less britpop bravado. blur never stayed in one lane. that’s probably why they’re still talked about.

gorillaz

gorillaz is basically damon albarn’s long running side project turned global phenomenon, created in 1998 with artist jamie hewlett. on paper it’s a “virtual band” made up of four animated members: 2-d, murdoc, noodle and russel. in reality, albarn is the musical brain, constantly collaborating with different artists while the cartoon universe carries the visual identity. it started as a way for albarn to escape the britpop shadow of blur and experiment with hip hop, electronic, dub and world music. the debut album blew up with “clint eastwood,” and demon days made them massive thanks to “feel good inc.” after that came concept heavy projects like plastic beach, the tour recorded the fall, the guest packed humanz, the more stripped back the now now, the episodic song machine, and cracker island. they’ve always played with the idea of performance too, sometimes hiding the live band, sometimes projecting the animated characters, sometimes just going full traditional concert mode. one grammy, a bunch of mtv and brit awards, and still somehow not fitting neatly into any genre.

a fondness for sitting in dim light

if you try to create an 18th century atmosphere in your home, you might like it too. the half dark silhouettes of objects around you, the barely distinguishable details of the paintings on the wall, the shadows of ordinary items stretching across the room in ways they never do in daylight all pull you into daydreams. sometimes, after a film watched, a song listened to, or a book read under dim light comes to an end, you may find yourself sitting still for a while under the hypnotic silence that fills the room. it is beautiful. it is comforting.