Dave Rowntree has declared Blur's latest record 'The Ballad Of Darren' is the "best thing" they have "ever done".

The Britpop group returned to the charts in 2023 with their ninth record - which arrived eight years after their last album 'The Magic Whip' in 2015 - and drummer Dave is adamant it's their finest work to date because it features songs that can be liked after the first listen.

He told Super Deluxe Edition: "I’m so disparaging when other musicians of a certain age say this of their recent work, but I think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, and by quite a long way.

"But I’m very well aware most middle-aged popstars think their latest album is their best work by far, and that most of them are deluding themselves. I’ll be guided by what other people think."

Dave added of the album's appeal: "There are certainly some great immediate songs on it. I heard Tom Robinson talk about being out of the spotlight for a long time and how his main anxiety in making a new record was still being able to write songs that people liked on the first listen.

"One of our selling points is that you can play one of our records and immediately go: ‘Oh, I like that a lot.’ Some bands lose that and they suffer as a result."

It's not yet known whether Blur will return again in the future after going on hiatus once again, but Dave recently hinted there may be more to come.

He told the Daily Star newspaper: "There’s still tons of stuff we could do. It’s about finding an offer that’s very hard to say no to.

"When we first got back together in 2009, we were very happy to be the first people to play what has become the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park. Then we were asked to headline the party to end the 2012 Olympics, and you can’t say no to that.

"So there’s absolutely no reason why we couldn’t consider another interesting idea, if we’re all available. But there’s absolutely nothing in the diary for Blur at the moment."