The atmosphere at the legendary studio was one of creative cross-pollination. “It was great. Studio 2… everyone was doing something everywhere,” Albarn told Matt Wilkinson. The spirit of the sessions was so infectious that the Blur frontman found himself taking on unexpected roles: “I ended up in a choir for one of Pulp’s songs. It was nice. It was really nice. And just like lots of younger bands, you know. It was a good spirit.”
Discussing the origins of the new collaboration, Albarn explained his recent shift in songwriting philosophy. “I’ve been writing a lot of songs recently and trying to write more in a major key,” he noted. “Well, I did for a while, I’ve given up again, but I tried. One of the more successful outcomes was this sort of idea for a song called ‘Flags’.” He eventually brought the idea to the team, and “then Grian got involved and then Kae got involved.”
Comparing the experience to his 1995 contribution, Albarn admitted to Matt Wilkinson that his younger self was a bit more enigmatic. “I look back and I don’t really understand what I was doing. We did some sort of weird kind of obscure music,” he laughed. “This time… we all wrote it together. It was really nice. And I think there was a real sense of musicians enjoying hanging out with each other. Which obviously I’m always an advocate of.”
Perhaps the most inspiring element for Albarn was the presence of young filmmakers curated by director Jonathan Glazier. “The best thing really for me was that Jonathan Glazier had employed loads of eight-year-olds to do the filming,” Albarn shared. “Honestly, the kids were fantastic. I was so impressed how smart they were… just having chat, I was just chatting with them all.”
