Britpop pioneers Blur to release first album in 12 years

Britpop rockers Blur announced on Thursday they were to release their first album since 2003, inspired by the band's time in Hong Kong and singer Damon Albarn's trip to North Korea.
"The Magic Whip" will be released on April 27, and is the band's first album since "Think Tank", which preceded a lengthy break from the studio.
"We've made a new record!" Albarn declared at a press conference in London.
Of their break, he said: "That seems like a long enough time for us to do something fresh."
The album was recorded in Hong Kong when the band had free time due to the cancellation of a show in Japan.
"We thought we'd put a few days, five or six days, to good use," explained Graham Coxon, the band's influential guitarist.
Albarn described the album as "very urban", saying it had been influenced by their time in the Far East.
Asked about the track "Pyongyang", where Albarn recently visited, the singer said: "It's an impression, my impression of the place in a very abstract veiled way".
Bassist Alex James added: "Everything just felt right. I don't think we were really thinking of making a record."
While the band were apart, Albarn achieved critical and commercial success with Gorillaz while James and Coxon both hit the charts with solo and collaborative projects.
But the band got back together for reunion shows in 2009, capped off by a triumphant headline slot in front of 100,000 people at the Glastonbury Festival.
The band will perform songs from their new album at one of the Hyde Park British Summer Time gigs in central London.  
Along with Oasis, Blur were at the forefront of bringing indie music to the mainstream in Britain, and the two bands fought a fierce chart war in 1995 when they both released singles in the same week.
Relations have since thawed between Albarn and Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher, and the Blur singer revealed the two had talked about working together.