Damon Albarn Has A New Project for 2019 and it's Big!

Damon Albarn has announced details of new project ‘The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows’, which he’ll be taking on tour in May 2020.

The Blur and Gorillaz frontman’s new work is inspired by the landscapes of Iceland, and will see him take it on the road with an ensemble and ambitious visuals by Icelandic filmmakers in the Spring. One date at The Barbican in London will Albarn team up with conductor André de Ridder.⁣

“The land of the midnight sun, Iceland is a unique country, filled with an abundance of natural beauty; glaciers, volcanoes, thermal springs, mountains and stunning headlands,” a synopsis reads. “Stretching across two continents; it’s a land where North America and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. What can be more fascinating than the signs of the passage of time and the fragility of nature.

“This new piece from Albarn, a frequent visitor to Iceland for almost three decades, will see the musician perform this new, very personal piece with an ensemble of orchestra instrumentation, electronics, vocals and piano. The title is taken from a John Clare poem entitled Love and Memory.”

Full tour dates are below. Visit here for tickets and more information.

MAY
17-18: Brussels, (Bozar)
20: Budapest, (Mupa)
21: Eindhoven, (Muziekgebouw)
23-24: Paris, (Philharmonie)
25: Lyon, (Auditorium – Orchestre National de Lyon)
26: London, (Barbican)
27: Nantes, (Cité des Congrès)
29: Luxembourg, (Philharmonie)
31 – June 1: Dublin, (National Concert Hall)

This comes after Albarn appeared to announce the end of The Good, The Bad & The Queen this summer. The band, which also features The Clash’s Paul Simonon, The Verve’s Simon Tong, and Afrobeat legend Tony Allen, reunited last year for their second album ‘Merrie Land’. “This is our last gig,” Albarn told the audience at the Netherlands festival. “This is our last gig. After this, poof. Done.” 

Damon Albarn working with EDM master Flume on new material

Breaking news- Flume, an EDM producer and DJ has been reported to be working with Damon Albarn for the last 18 months on new material. According to NME, Flume – AKA EDM DJ and producer Harley Streten – is currently working on the follow-up to his second album ‘Skin’, which was released in 2016. He told his audience on a social media post late last year that in 2019 “I’ll be back in your life, I promise,” ending a long hiatus.

According to an old Damon Albarn interview, Albarn has been in the studio with Flume before. Albarn mentioned in passing that he and Flume had worked on something in the studio together. He did give any information on what the tracks were called, when they would be released or specify whether their project would constitute a Gorillaz collaboration or a side project. Speculations have emerged about what exactly the frontman was working on with Flume back then, but new Gorillaz or one-off tracks cannot be struck out.

Anyhow, it's all good news for Damon Albarn fans as it means that something, just maybe, could be coming up.

Stay tuned for more!