Blur’s new documentary film, To The End, which follows the unique relationship of four friends and bandmates of three decades – Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree – is now in cinemas. The film charts the band’s journey as they came together in early 2023 to record new songs ahead of their sold-out, first-ever shows at London’s Wembley Stadium in July that summer. To The End offers a more circumspect reflection on the band’s legacy as they possibly enter their final chapter. To The End is one of two Blur documentaries being released this year. The second, Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium, will arrive in cinemas on September 6.
The band released a clip this month from the film featuring the moments before the quartet took to the stage at Wembley, huddled together sharing a laugh. Albarn narrated: “I don’t allow it to get to me ’cause I accept if my voice can’t sing all those songs then that’s just the way it is. If I was really neurotic about things like that, I’d be shitting myself.” The clip ends with Blur walking onstage to deafening applause.
The To The End documentary showcases the following Blur songs: ‘To The End’, ‘Come Together’, ‘Sticks And Stones’, ‘The Narcissist’, ‘The Everglades (For Leonard)’, ‘Country House’, ‘The Ballad’, ‘The Universal’, ‘Popscene’, ‘Intermission (Commercial Break)’, ‘Coping’, ‘Fool’s Day’, ‘Parklife’, ‘Get Out Of Cities’, ‘Luminous’, ‘Advert’, ‘St Charles Square’, ‘Peach’, ‘Russian Strings’, ‘Lot 105’, ‘She’s So High’, ‘Song 2’, ‘Girls And Boys’, ‘Music Is My Radar’, ‘The Debt Collector’, ‘Tender’, and ‘The Heights’. The film also features an original score provided by Mike Smith, and a number of songs by other artists, including The Tony Hatch Orchestra’s ‘Theme From Crossroads’, Jockstrap’s ’50/50′, The Selecter’s ‘Frontline’, Paul Weller’s ‘That’s Entertainment’, Self Esteem’s ‘How Can I Help You’, Sleaford Mods’ ‘Force 10 From Navarone’, and Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons’ ‘The Night’.
The new documentary allows fans to witness the Britpop legends’ love and friendship over the course of their career. In a five-star review of To The End, NME’s Andrew Trendell wrote: “They bicker, they hug, they call each other c**ts, they get the job done. While Blur’s last documentary and accompanying live movie No Distance Left To Run was a portrait of a band celebrating their legacy and giving a nostalgia-hungry world exactly what they craved, this spiritual sequel shows a band simply supporting each other. Whether they return again or not remains to be seen. But even if they don’t, this was one hell of a final fling.”
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