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

Damon Albarn performs Aries Live

 Old news, but gold news nonetheless. Watch Damon Albarn perform "Aries" in one of his best live performances in a long time.

Damon Albarn to perform in a Glastonbury Festival in May

Head's up Blur fans- Damon Albarn is set to perform on stage in Glastonbury Festival  on the 22nd May 2021 at 19:00 BST. This means that there's going to be an epic lineup featuring Coldplay, Haim, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka, Wolf Alice, and DJ Honey Dijon, as well as other talented musicians in the UK. 

The Glastonbury Festival is going to be streamed live to global audiences online, and promises to be an epic showcase of musical talent. The stream will be directed by Paul Dugdale, and will be filmed in the Worthy Farm site at landmarks including the Pyramid Field and the Stone Circle.

“After two Glastonbury cancellations, it brings us great pleasure to announce our first online livestream, which will present live music performances filmed across Worthy Farm at landmarks including the Pyramid and, for the first time ever, the Stone Circle,” festival organizer Emily Eavis said. 

Glastonbury Festival:

Saturday, 22 May 2021 at 19:00 BST

“It will feature a rolling cast of artists and performers who have all given us enormous support by agreeing to take part in this event, showing the farm as you have never seen it. There will also be some very special guest appearances and collaborations. We are hoping this will bring a bit of Glastonbury to your homes and that for one night only people all over the world will be able to join us on this journey through the farm together.”

Glastonbury Festival has been predicted to lose out on millions of pounds this year due to ongoing cancellations caused by the global pandemic. The festival recently received a £900,000 grant as part of Government's Culture Recovery Fund. It is hoped that the live stream event will attract viewers from all over the world. 

The concert will be available only to ticket holders. The tickets are selling for £20, €23, $27.50 and AUD$35. A special festival poster for the event is also on sale, with proceeds going to Stagehand, the live-production welfare and benevolent fund, which is helping crew who have fallen through gaps in the U.K. government financial support during the coronavirus pandemic. Usually, ticket sales for Glastonbury disappears in a few hours but since this is a livestream, it seems that the tickets are uncapped. 

To buy tickets, visit THIS link. 

Visit Glastonbury Festival's official website HERE. 

Feeling a bit nostalgic? Check out Blur perform "Tender" at Glastonbury in 2009 during the great reunion.