Variety
Assembling a musical “making-of” documentary is fairly easy, particularly with a compelling act in the foreground; actually finding any narrative of consequence behind the music — to pinch that hoary VH1 cliche — is a trickier ask. That “Blur: New World Towers” largely comes up trumps in this regard owes much to the enduringly scrappy charisma and inventive musicality of the ’90s Britpop titans — but also to the peculiar, semi-accidental recording circumstances of this year’s surprise reunion album “The Magic Whip,” which saw the once-fragmented foursome tacitly, even tenderly, mending past differences through performance. Shuffling appealingly between casually forthright interviews, intimate studio sessions and buoyant, to-the-rafters concert footage, “New World Towers” will thoroughly satisfy Blur nostalgists, but keeps the band’s image firmly in the present.
