Think Tank

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"It's an album about love and politics", says Damon Albarn of Blur's seventh studio album, 'Think Tank'. Recorded in Marrakech and London, it's the band's first as a three-piece following the departure of guitarist Graham Coxon, and the first since Albarn's massive success with his Gorillaz project. Produced by Blur and Ben Hillier, with additional production by Fatboy Slim and William Orbit, 'Think Tank' doesn't so much depart from, as further develop, the sound defined on their last outing, 1999's critically acclaimed '13'. Opening trio 'Ambulance', 'Out Of Time' and 'Crazy Beat' cover more ground than many bands manage in a lifetime, mixing electronic and acoustic elements in sleek but heartfelt harmony; elsewhere standout tracks include the gospel tinged 'Brothers And Sisters', the mournful 'Battery In Your Leg' ("This is a ballad for the good times/So put a battery in your leg"), and 'We've Got A File On You', a 60 second punk thrash with Albarn himself picking up the guitar-playing slack ("There was nobody else to do it, so I had to. It was really difficult, but with that massive change came a new vitality").