"I loved it as an egg, I loved it as a caterpillar, I loved it as a pupa, and I still love it." Blur's Damon Albarn on Pure Love, his collab with dance producer DJ Koze

(Image credit: Pampa)

Blur vocalist Damon Albarn has collaborated with German DJ and dance producer DJ Koze on a new single, Pure Love.

According to a statement posted with the YouTube upload, the song is the result of a "cosmic spark" between Koze (aka Stefan Kozalla) and Albarn, which stemmed from the two musicians meeting by chance in the Maras salt mines in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

The blurb continues: "The encounter in the surreal salt ponds, was the initial spark from which this deep and unfathomably mystical treasure was born. The shimmering of these two souls opens a window onto a nocturnal scene where the scents of oriental spices dance through the air and the stars twinkle above us.

The sky has never been as beguiling as it is today."

Lovely sentiments, we're sure you'll agree.

Pure Love is the first single to be taken from DJ Koze's forthcoming album Music Can Hear Us, set for an April 4 release via his own label, Pampa.

Damon Albarn says, “This tune has been through a profound metamorphosis over the last few years. I loved it as an egg; I loved it as a caterpillar; I loved it as a pupa; and I still love it. Thank you, Koze.”

DJ Koze adds, “In a fashion of proper slow cooking and letting go, we finally came up with this lovely song. If you’re in a hurry, go slowly as they say. Thank you, Damon, for walking this path with me.”

Wonderful.

Anyway, here's the video.

YouTube

Watch On

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.