X-clusive: No More Mr Lo-fi - Coxon On New LP

Indie icon and ex Blur Graham Coxon has been talking exclusively about recording his new solo album, working with onetime Blur producer Stephen Street again, trying to palm his album covers on other people and next year's tour.

Speaking to Xfm Online before his appearance at the Xfm Winter Warmer gig, Coxon explained that his new album marks a definite move away from the stripped down lo-fi style of his previous releases.  

“The album sounds really, really nice.” He said, “I’m very pleased with it. It sounds like a lot of the music I’ve liked during my lifetime. Pretty traditional sounds really only slightly more confidently executed, betterly [sic] miked up, and a bit more care taken in recording it."  

Whereas the guitarist’s previous albums were self produced, the new record sees Coxon working with Stephen Street who produced Blur’s ‘Parklife’ album.  

“It’s my fifth album, but really it’s my first official one. My first recorded as a sole trader, i thought the songs I’d written lent themselves to me taking more time, maybe getting a producer. I decide that the control freakishness that I had on my first few albums was a bit too much, it was time to relax a little bit and let someone help and not be too controlling. I really wanted to work on my vocals too, make sure I had really good takes and I trust Stephen in that way.  

“Before I would call the shots and be quite impatient and scruffy in my approach, and I wanted to have Stephen's cleaner approach to things mixed with my scruffy stuff, and it turned out really good."

It also appears that while Coxon has stuck to playing the odd one-off low key live show of late, he is planning on doing a full tour when the new record hits shops.  

“Now I am out on my own, I’d regret it if I didn't really give it a good go and do singles and proper tours.” He continued, “When the album comes out I’ll definitely tour Britain and abroad, talk to people about it and do the lot.”  

”I haven’t got a name for it yet,” he replied when asked if the new album had a title. “At the moment I’m doing all the drawings for it [Coxon designs all the artwork for his albums] I’ve go about 50 record covers, so if anyone needs one I’m gonna have loads of spares. There was one daft working title called ‘No More Mr Lo-Fi’ but that was a giggle title really, I’m trying to think of something more serious.”  

Coxon also stated that the new album will be released “next spring” on Transcopic (his own label) and Parlophone Records.

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