The Magic Whip (stylised in Chinese text as 模糊魔鞭) is the eighth studio album by English rock band Blur.

It is the first album by the band in North America under Warner Bros., after Blur were transferred from Virgin Records in 2013, following the purchase of EMI and its assets by the Universal Music Group in 2012.

In an attempt to distract themselves, they worked on new material in Avon Studios, as announced by lead singer Damon Albarn during the gig at AsiaWorld–Expo, Chek Lap Kok.

"[3] In November 2014, Graham Coxon started to work further on the recordings with producer Stephen Street, while Albarn was touring his solo album, Everyday Robots (2014).

[4] The album cover artwork has the words blur and magic whip written in Chinese surrounding an ice cream cone, all rendered in neon-lit fashion.

"[28] Helen Brown of The Telegraph stated that the album "turns out to be a triumphant comeback", and noted that "it retains the band's core identity while allowing ideas they'd fermented separately over the past decade to infuse their sound with mature and peculiar new flavour combinations.

[29] Spin writer Andrew Unterberger gave the album an 8/10 rating and said, "Magic Whip is a fun album, nearly as much as any Gorillaz LPs," adding, "Magic Whip finds enough majesty and intrigue in the band's more meditative days to remain worthy company to any of the band's classic LPs.

"[26] All tracks are written by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave RowntreeBlur Additional personnel * Sales figures based on certification alone.