When NME sat down with Blur before the Colchester rockers' historic Hyde Park gig on Saturday, I'm sure they knew the kinds of responses to expect when they asked the band for their opinions on X Factor.
Lead guitarist Graham Coxon's response was unsurprisingly on the nose when he was asked where he stands on television talent shows:
Stage left with a machine-gun.
Coxon continued,
In the past, TV talent shows provided entertainment, but they didn’t promise anybody a career. I don't believe in the devil, but The X Factor is the devil's work.
Lead singer Damon Albarn recalled bumping into Simon Cowell at this year's Brit Awards.
I looked at him and said, 'I've got my eye on you'. That’s all I said, because I have. He didn’t say much in reply.
Albarn added,
Simon Cowell seems to be extremely good at what he does and lives in a splendid bubble as a result of it, but it’s so far away from what I do it’s almost impossible to say that the two have any relationship whatsoever.
Blur's eighth studio album The Magic Whip recently reached number 1 in the UK album charts, with lead single Lonesome Street - described by once arch nemesis Liam Gallagher as the 'best song of 2015' - propelling the lads back into mainstream consciousness once more.
But if they side with the purists in terms of X Factor and shows of its ilk, their thoughts on pop icon Taylor Swift seem to stray from the typical rock 'n' roll narrative.
A wholesome person with some classy opinions,
was Coxon's take on Tay, with bassist Alex James speaking of his children's - and his own - admiration for the Bad Blood singer:
She’s bigger than anyone ever and if you’ve got little girls you can’t resist The Swift. They’re great tunes, she’s smoking hot, what’s not to like?
Asked whether he'd consider writing for the 25 year old, Albarn's response was a little more measured than his bandmates:
Very few people I write for use my songs and it’s a bit of a mystery to me,
before apparently chuckling at the notion of Swift singing Blur's 1995 hit Country House.
He might laugh, but the band did invite Jimmy Fallon to jam with them after their interview on the Tonight Show in the States. And just look how much he enjoyed it.
H/T: NME
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