Blur

Blur's penitence for Britpop continues with the aptly named 13, which deals with star-crossed situations, including personal and professional breakups with Damon Albarn's longtime girlfriend, Justine Frischmann of Elastica, and the group's longtime producer, Stephen Street. Building on the un-pop experiments they began on 1997's Blur, the group's ambitions to expand their musical and emotional horizons result in a half-baked bakers' dozen of songs, featuring some of their most creative peaks and self-indulgent valleys.

Though Albarn has been criticized for lacking depth in his songwriting, Blur's ballads remain some of their best moments, revealing their often-overlooked emotional side -- when Albarn and crew risk some honesty, 13 shines. The chorus of the album's opener, "Tender," finds Albarn "waiting for that feeling," battered and frail, supported by a lush gospel choir urging him to "get through it." His confiding continues on "1992," which alludes to the beginning -- and ending -- of his relationship with Frischmann; on "No Distance Left to Run," one of 13's most moving moments, Albarn addresses post-breakup exhaustion with ambivalence, sighing, "I hope you're with someone who makes you feel safe while you sleep."

While these songs reflect Albarn's romantic chaos, "Mellow Song," "Caramel" and "Trimm Trabb" express day-to-day desperation. Musically, the saddest songs on 13 are also the clearest, mixing electronic and acoustic elements in sleek but heartfelt harmony. But for every aspect of 13 that reflects something honest and open, another blurs its focus. The meandering, undeveloped interludes between each song pad the album's length to over an hour, sapping its strength. "B.L.U.R.E.M.I." doesn't really differ from the group's typical rave-ups; similarly, the blustery "Swamp Song" and "Bugman" nick Blur's punky glam-pop style of old, but sound misplaced here. "Trailerpark" veers in yet another direction, a too-trendy trip-hop rip-off that emphasizes the band's musical fog. The electronica-tinged "Battle" makes the album's noisy, cluttered aesthetic work, but otherwise, William Orbit's kitchen-sink production doesn't serve the songs' -- or the band's -- best interests. 13's strange, frustrating combination of expert musicianship and self-indulgent songwriting and production reveals the sound of a band trying to find itself. With some closer editing, this could have been the emotionally deep, sonically wide album Blur yearns to make. [13 is also available in a release with added bonus tracks.] ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide