Graham Coxon has recalled Madonna unexpectedly walking into the studio while Blur were recording ’13’ with the late producer William Orbit.
Orbit died at his home on July 23 at the age of 69, with news of his passing announced on August 7. No cause of death has been shared.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Coxon reflected on the producer’s work on Blur’s experimental and critically-acclaimed sixth album, released in 1999, describing him as a “genius” with an anarchic love of sound.
Blur chose Orbit to oversee the ’13’ sessions after hearing his eight-minute remix of their 1997 track ‘Movin’ On’, and the sessions came in the aftermath of Orbit’s work on Madonna’s huge 1998 album ‘Ray Of Light’, which had made him one of the most sought-after producers in the world.
“I instantly liked William,” Coxon said. “I picked up on some sort of perversion in him musically, and I thought, ‘This will be interesting’.”
“We got the measure of him that it was going to be anarchy,” he continued. “We thought he was this genius who was a bit tinged by madness – but, well, that’s what genius does.”
Coxon said that during the sessions, Madonna made a surprise appearance in the studio in London. “I was in the live room doing some silly guitars, knocking around, and then I looked through into the control room and Madonna was standing in there,” he recalled.
“I was like, ‘Oh shit. Do I stay here or do I get the courage to go and say hi? We all said hi.”
He remembered Blur improvising over a beat that they liked that Orbit had put together during the ’13’ sessions, but which didn’t end up going anywhere.
Later that year, Madonna released ‘Beautiful Stranger’, the Orbit-produced single from the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and Coxon said when he heard the song, he thought, “Oh, that’s that track!”
‘Beautiful Stranger’ went on to win Madonna and Orbit their third Grammy together, with his work having helped to rejuvenate her career.
Following his death, Madonna paid an emotional tribute to him, writing that “in many ways you were my Ray Of Light”, adding: “Goodbye Billy Bubbles. I was so lucky to have known you and fallen down the rabbit hole with you.”
Earlier this year, Orbit said he had created a prospective “successor” to ‘Ray Of Light’ but had received “nil response” after contacting Madonna. He stressed there were “zero hard feelings”, adding: “I will always love that woman. For real. She made my career.”
’13’ was the last Blur album to feature Coxon as a full-time member until 2015’s ‘The Magic Whip’, and he is currently working on a third album by The Waeve, his project with Rose Elinor Dougall.
He will also play a run of solo UK dates later this year, and Coxon also said in the new interview that he is considering remembering Orbit at the shows. “Who knows? We may even do a William Orbit-related Blur song,” he teased.