Recording sessions begin

Recording for Blur’s next album began in London in November 2001, but concerted work started in June 2002, with the sessions moving to Marrakesh , Morocco soon after, and then to Devon back in the UK. Not long after the sessions began, Coxon left the group. Graham had developed a drinking problem as Blur received more mainstream success . Being more involved in the business side of music than he would have liked caused Coxon to develop anxiety and depression. This caused friendships and relationship problems. Coxon said “there were no rows” and “[the band] just recognized the feeling that we needed some time apart”. Before the album was released, Blur released a new single, ” Don’t Bomb When You Are the Bomb ” as a very limited white label release. The song is largely electronic, and was part of the band’s protest against war in the Middle East. Albarn, however, attempted to assuage fans’ fears that the album would be electronic by providing reassurances that the band’s new album would be “a rockin’ record”, and also said that it has “a lot of finely crafted pop songs”. Early in 2002, Blur recorded a song that would be played by European Space Agency ‘s Beagle 2 lander once it touched down; however, attempts to locate the probe after it landed on Mars were fruitless.