Damon Albarn will release his second solo album in November. Albarn had originally intended for ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’ to be an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland, but during lockdown, the 53-year-old singer returned to the music and reformed them into 11 tracks.
Damon admitted making the record – which explores fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth – led him on a “dark hourney”.
He said: “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.”
The album title is taken from a John Clare poem, ‘Love and Memory’.
As well as being released digitally on 12 November, Albarn will also bring the record out on CD and cassette, as well as limited-edition colour vinyl.
And there will also be a deluxe version of the album, which will be on clear vinyl and packaged in a casebound book featuring additional photography, original scanned lyrics and artwork by Damon, a high-quality digital file and a bonus 7″ featuring an exclusive track from the recording sessions.
Damon debuted some of the tracks last month as part of the ‘Live At Worthy Farm’ event, the highlights of which can be seen on BBC iPlayer from 24 June.
He will also perform some of the songs at his two festival gigs this summer, at Manchester International Festival on 13 July and Edinburgh International Festival on 24 August.
‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’ tracklisting:
1. ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’
2. ‘The Cormorant’
3. ‘Royal Morning Blue’
4. ‘Combustion’
5. ‘Daft Wader’
6. ‘Darkness To Light’
7. ‘Esja’
8. ‘The Tower Of Montevideo
9. ‘Giraffe Trumpet Sea’
10. ‘Polaris’
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