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Jan 31, 2019 By Stephen Axeman Blur

San Francisco-based indie/electronic songwriter Micropixie (née Neshma Friend) has shared a new single, “The Universal,” and we are pleased to premiere it. The track is a cover of the Blur song by the same name from their 1995 album The Great Escape and will be featured on Micropixie’s forthcoming album Dark Sight of the Moon, which is due out on March 8 (International Women’s Day). The track was recorded with award-winning producer Paco Serén of Los Piratas in Galicia, Spain and brings to the fore the original song’s lounge groove and mystified sense of play. Check out the track and album art below. Above is the single cover art.

Friend had this to say about the recording of the track: “After learning that I too was a Damon Albarn fan-we both loved his album, Everyday Robots-it was my collaborator Paco [Serén] who suggested that we cover ‘The Universal.’ I could feel him almost crossing his fingers behind his back when he mentioned it, in case I wasn’t into the idea. I couldn’t quite remember that particular Blur song from the title, but as soon as he put it on I recognized it, ran to the mic and said, ‘Let’s start recording!’ By that time, I felt free enough with Paco to experiment vocally and not be shy. So that’s how those opening ‘doodle lüt-dus’ came about. He loved those, and also these two other places in the song, which he calls my ‘perfume moments,’ (he said he imagined me sitting in front of a dressing table spraying perfume out of one those old-time atomizer bottles… hilarious image!). Such brilliant lyrics about the working class being brainwashed to accept their ‘fate’; the subjugation of the poor via the con-trick that is the National Lottery. What a perfect candidate lyrically for Dark Sight of the Moon.”

Dark Sight of the Moon is the final chapter in a narratively linked trilogy of records that includes The Good, The Beige & The Ugly (2012) and Alice in Stevie Wonderland (2005). The triptych of albums tells the story of Friend’s alien alter-ego Micropixie’s journey to Earth and her search for identity among humans, borrowing from her own personal reflections on her background and international heritage. In addition to featuring producer Paco Serén, the album includes contributions from Rob Myers and Ashish “Hash” Vyas of Thievery Corporation.

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