Blur’s Dave Rowntree to release solo album

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has signed a deal with indie label Cooking Vinyl to release his upcoming debut solo album.

The new record comes after the Britpop veteran enjoyed success with a series of compositions for documentaries such as ‘Bros: After The Screaming Stops’ and Netflix show ‘The One’.

“As a kid I used to spend hours spinning the dial on my radio, dreaming of escape to all the places whose exotic stations I heard,” Rowntree said in a statement.

“I’ve tried to make an album like that – tuning through the spectrum, stopping at each song telling a story about a turning point in my life, then spinning the dial and moving on. I’m very excited to be releasing the album on Cooking Vinyl next year.”

Rowntree’s debut album is set on drop next year via Cooking Vinyl, which has previously released records from the likes of Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Will Young and Babymetal.

Cooking Vinyl MD Rob Collins said: “Dave’s album blew me away and there wasn’t anything going to stop me releasing it. He’s a very talented drummer!”

News of the release comes after Blur frontman Damon Albarn said last week that he’s kickstarting conversations with his bandmates to devise a reunion of some kind in the future.

Asked in Metro‘s print edition if Blur are “dead and buried”, Albarn responded: “Not at all.”

“I am just about to have a conversation with people about Blur and I would love to sing all those songs again. I miss the songs. I miss playing with Blur,” he said.

He added that a revival is “not something I would do just for the sake of it”.

Albarn released his second solo album, ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’ last week (November 12) via Transgressive Records.