An awful lot has happened to Blur in the three years since their last album. Guitarist Graham Coxon has left, Fatboy Slim has come in as part-time producer and the ever-restless Damon Albarn has been expanding his musical horizons with his side projects Gorillaz and Mali music. So, after all the internal trauma, how do they sound on Think Tank? Well, as ever, absolutely brimming with ideas - but this time, not altogether sure how best to present them. Musically, it's absolutely fascinating, moving seamlessly between jazzy rock, creepy atmospherics and soaring guitar rackets, the eclectic mix tinged by the band's new-found world music influences. It's just a little disappointing, then, to find that many of the songs feel curiously under-developed, almost as if Albarn had deliberately decided to trust in spontaneity rather than, as before, plan everything down to the last detail. There's nothing here to challenge the notion that Blur are one of the most inventive and intelligent British bands of the last decade. Think Tank, however - while consistently interesting and occasionally inspired - doesn't quite rank with their very best work.

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