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Blur reveal that they went to counselling before reuniting

Guitarist Graham Coxon admits that he 'probably said a few stupid things in the press' following his departure in 2002

Blur guitarist Graham Coxon has revealed that the band sought professional help to ease tensions in the group before they reunited in 2009.

Coxon parted ways with the band in 2002, during the recording of their seventh album \'Think Tank\', which subsequently only featured Coxon on one track. Now, speaking to Mojo, Coxon has revealed that the four-piece needed to lay all their troubles to rest before getting back together.

"Although we shoved it all aside when we got back together, I realised that passions were still slightly high about it all," Coxon told the magazine. "Y’know, in those years since [leaving the band in 2002], I probably said a few stupid things in the press – because the circumstances of why weren’t together as a four-piece were quite unclear. We’d met a couple of times – one was some mediation thing where we had to go over stuff that was difficult… we were all raw and hurt by it, for quite a while."

Coxon added: "To be honest, the last couple of years when I was in Blur it wasn’t like we were good friends, like we could ring each other up. Everybody was going through management and we all had our own lives, our own problems."

Blur release their new album \'The Magic Whip\' on April 27. Last Friday (March 20), they played the record in full at tiny west London club Mode to an audience of 300 fans. After performing \'The Magic Whip\' in full, they ended with an encore of \'Trouble In The Message Centre\' from 1994\'s \'Parklife\'.

NME, which is on newsstands now and available digitally, Coxon also stated that making new album \'The Magic Whip\' helped him "make amends" with singer Damon Albarn.

Coxon said: "Damon and I have an increased respect for each other because of this record, and we\'re not ashamed to let each other know about that increased respect. But what we also have a lot of history, and our friendship – like any friendship between two people in a band together – has had to go through a lot. It’s been put to the test, and we’ve often let each other down. This record was a way of saying, ‘Sorry for being such a pain in the arse for the last 20 years.\'"

Blur recently shared new songs ’Lonesome Street’ and ’There Are Too Many Of Us’. The band have already released lead single \'Go Out\'’.

The band will headline British Summer Time in London\'s Hyde Park on June 20. They have also been announced as a headliner for this year\'s Isle Of Wight festival and Benicàssim festival in Spain.

Drummer Dave Rowntree had confirmed that Blur will not be headlining Glastonbury this year.

Graham Coxon says new Blur album helped him and Damon Albarn \'make amends\'

Blur to stream full live performance of new album \'The Magic Whip\' tonight (March 25)

Video: Blur On 'The Magic Whip': 'We've Never Made A Record In This Way Before'

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