Stereoboard Tour of the Week - Graham Coxon - Tickets Onsale Now
Friday, 13 January 2012
Written by Rob Sleigh
Let’s see – what has Graham Coxon been up to since 2009, when he released his most recent album ‘The Spinning Top’ and was heavily involved with Pete Doherty’s debut solo offering? As if you didn’t know, of course. Not only has it been three years since the guitarist brought out his seventh solo album, but also the same amount of time since he finally patched up differences with his old band Blur and, for the first time in 10 years, performed live with them for several long-awaited reunion shows including Glastonbury, T In The Park and the band’s huge headlining shows in Hyde Park.
In the three years since Blur’s reformation, speculation has surrounded the possibility of a new album from the band, who have even managed to tease us with a handful of one-off releases. However, while there has been no firm denial that a new Blur album will make an appearance at some point in the future, it has yet to present itself so far.
So, in the meantime, Coxon has returned to his day job as a successful and well-respected solo artist and songwriter. Astonishingly, what may have once been referred to as his side-project, has now been going on for longer than he was originally in Blur. Now, with his eighth album ‘A+E’ in the bag, it appears to be a much more certain future than his other occasional venture.
What can fans of Graham’s solo work look forward to this time around then? According to the man himself, they can expect “improvisations, experiments in beats, rhythms.” And what did he hope to achieve from his latest one-man effort: “A chance to uninhibitedly make some sort of perversely sad, danceable and funny and despondent songs. I didn’t want to get caught up in my usual struggle with trying to make things sound really posh. I didn’t want lovely 60s-sounding drums and valves.”
So there you have it. ‘A+E’ is due out on 2nd April and Graham will be celebrating the release by following it with a 14-date UK tour. Not only that, but he’ll also be making it a bit more special than normal by inviting local bands to nominate themselves for the support slot on each night. That’s right - via his official website, fans are welcome to suggest their own band or another local group as Graham’s warm-up act in their town by posting a video for him to check out. Anyone can support each band by sharing the video through his website, but Graham will be responsible for making the final selections.
While we all wait in anticipation for another Blur album to appear, at least this gives us two things to look forward to in the meantime. OK, so we probably shouldn’t expect another ‘Song 2’ or ‘Parklife’ anymore than we did prior to any of Graham Coxon’s other seven releases. And we can safely say that it will be as far away from Gorillaz as you could possible imagine. But as one of the best guitarist’s this country has ever had to offer, not to mention one of our finest solo artists, Graham Coxon has certainly proved himself over the last 14 years, with or without Blur.
Fri April 13th 2012 - O2 Academy Oxford, Oxford
Sun April 15th 2012 - The Sage Gateshead, Gateshead
Mon April 16th 2012 - Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh
Tue April 17th 2012 - Garage , Glasgow
Thu April 19th 2012 - Sound Control, Manchester
Fri April 20th 2012 - The Leadmill, Sheffield
Sat April 21st 2012 - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Mon April 23rd 2012 - Concorde 2, Brighton
Tue April 24th 2012 - Junction, Cambridge
Wed April 25th 2012 - HMV Forum, London
Fri April 27th 2012 - Guildhall Arts Centre, Gloucester
Sat April 28th 2012 - Trinity Centre, Bristol
Sun April 29th 2012 - Pavilion, Exmouth
Mon April 30th 2012 - Princess Pavilion, Falmouth
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