Damon Albarn debutes new song Polaris

Damon Albarn has released “Polaris,” the lead single from his upcoming solo album The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, out November 12th via Transgressive Records. The song arrived on Tuesday with an accompanying live performance video featuring Albarn on piano as he leads his band and a string quartet through the orchestral rock track. 

The “Polaris” clip is the first in a series of performance videos from Albarn titled Sublime Boulevards – Performance Films. Directed by Transgressive Records founder Toby L and shot in black and white, the video series will feature selections from The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, and will be premiered in stages leading up to the album’s release date. 

Albarn originally intended for his new album to be an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. However, during the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020, he began to develop the 11 tracks further into narrative pop songs. 

The hybrid sound can be heard on the album’s title track, which Albarn previewed last month. The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows takes its title from the poem “Love and Memory” by John Clare and marks Albarn’s first solo LP since 2014’s Everyday Robots.

Along with a digital release, Albarn is prepping a limited-edition color vinyl version of The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, as well as versions on CD and cassette. There will also be a deluxe version packaged in a casebound book with additional photography, original scanned lyrics, original artwork, a copy of the album pressed on white vinyl, and a bonus seven-inch featuring an exclusive song from the recording sessions.

Watch the video below to see the full performance.

 

Damon Albarn- Polaris (Lyrics)

Polaris

If you get blown off course

In filling in the parts of your life that have disappeared

Medicating

Quick step reflections

In the dark mirrors of our lives

Polaris

Watching the embers fall

On to sublime boulevards

Medicating

Joining the saline to start

The inspection of the lines

See the birds

They have been taken by the wind

They are not together now

They will have to wait until tomorrow

To see each other again

Polaris, Polaris

Polaris, Polaris

See the birds

They have been taken by the wind

They are not together now

They will have to wait until tomorrow

To see each other again

We sprawl out among the gutters

In the shadow of the world

I miss the alarm, the music therein

And so back to the visions

All around us

When you will be

Gone

Polaris, Polaris

Polaris, Polaris

Source: Rolling Stone

A New Gorillaz Album is to be out in 2018 !

Head's up! Damon Albarn has just announced that a new Gorillaz album may be out in 2018. Yes, that's right folks, it might just be coming soon!

But that's not the whole story. After the release Humanz this year, lead singer Damon Albarn has revealed that he’d like to release another “surprise” album, similar to The Fall from back in 2010, which arrived after a short surprise announcement.

“I really like the idea of making new music and playing it live almost simultaneously,” Albarn announced after speaking with Q Magazine. “It will be a more complete record than The Fall, but hopefully have that spontaneity.”

The virtual band still has a number of tour dates to get to, as Damon continued regarding live performances.

“We’ve been discussing ideas for a new kind of live show,” he added. “If we’re going to do more with Gorillaz we don’t want to wait seven years because, y’know, we’re getting on a bit now. We’re excited but we need to get these shows finished first. You never know what’s around the corner.”

“My dream of being able to see holograms of real people onstage is close now. That was the idea at the beginning. We’ve been very patient and we don’t have that long left.”

So is this a teaser for a new Gorillaz album? Is this one of Albarn's many contested hints? Who knows - but what we know for sure is that the future of a new Gorillaz album remains out there for good!

Stay tuned for more (and we're back after our little hiatus!).

Damon Albarn making new album for Warp - July 2011

Damon Albarn's opera Doctor Dee has now reached the end of its run as part of the Manchester International Festival and has received almost universal acclaim and positive reviews. 


"I'm making an album for Warp," Damon reveals in The Guardian's latest article on Doctor Dee, his new opera . This is the only new thing that the article reveals, oh, and that Damon stumbled quite a lot around the stage during his opera....


Warp is a Sheffield-based record label usually renowned for techno. 


"I'm taking six young English producers with me and we'll make it in a week. Then I'm going on a six-
week holiday to dispel rumours I'm a workaholic." said Damon.


And my thoughts on this is exactly northernmonkey's, which goes like this:


A six weeks holiday should recharge the creative juices for getting started on a new Blur album!!!


Lastly, watch the recent short interview Damon Albarn did for BBC Two Culture Show on July 12th 2011 about his opera. Quite interesting. 





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