Damon Albarn’s forthcoming solo album has been “years” in the making.
The Blur and Gorillaz frontman will release his second LP ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’ on November 12, featuring 11 tracks that began life as an instrumental project.
It comes seven years after the musician dropped ‘Everyday Robots’ and, according to Damon, was inspired by a line from poet John Clare’s ‘Love And Memory’.
He tells The Sun: “Clare was a working-class poet, an interesting guy and really ahead of his time. He even checked into a wellbeing clinic, 19th Century-style.
“When I was much younger, my mum gave me an anthology because he was from Essex and we had spent a lot of time there. I’ve had the book for ages and I’m a dipper into poetry.
“I underlined the ‘nearer the fountain’ line years ago because I thought it would be a wonderful springboard for something.”
So far, Damon has released three tracks from the project – Polaris, Particles and the title song – which, according to a press release, “explore[s] themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth”.
He 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.”
‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’ is available to pre-order now on CD and vinyl.
