Blur began working on their fourth album "The Great Escape" at the start of 1995. Building upon the band's previous two albums, Albarn's lyrics for the album consisted of several third-person narratives. James reflected, "It was all more elaborate, more orchestral, more theatrical, and the lyrics were even more twisted ... It was all dysfunctional, misfit characters fucking up." The release of the album's lead single "Country House" played a part in Blur's public rivalry with Manchester band Oasis termed the "Battle of Britpop". Partly due to increasing antagonism between the groups, Blur and Oasis decided to release their new singles on the same day, an event the "NME" called the "British Heavyweight Championship". The debate over which band would top the British singles chart became a media phenomenon, and Albarn appeared on "News at Ten". At the end of the week, "Country House" outsold Oasis' "Roll With It" by 274,000 copies to 216,000, becoming Blur's first number-one single.