Damon Albarn - The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows - LP

Damon Albarn needs no introduction. Although we probably do need a recap of a career that has spanned over three decades (!). A founding member of Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad & The Queen, the singer, songwriter, producer, and composer is the recipient of six Brits, two Ivor Novello Awards, and a Grammy Award. His eclectic musical style and observational lyrics have made him one of the UK’s most influential and consistently interesting musicians.

And now? He presents The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows. Set for a November 12th release via new label home Transgressive, the album – Albarn’s second solo – was originally intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This last year has seen Albarn return to the music in lockdown and develop the work to 11 tracks that further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence, and rebirth. The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller. The album title is taken from a John Clare poem Love and Memory. Albarn says “I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist.”

 In a career of perpetual musical shifts and exploration, the record uncovers yet more ground, finding expansive orchestral arrangements nestling with intimate melodies, discordance brushing up against infectious majesty, all set to some of Albarn’s most arresting vocal performances to date. Much like the beauty and chaos of the natural world it soundtracks, The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows vividly documents the emotional ebb and flow of the human condition, in all its extremes, serving as a soul-enriching document for our times.