Damon Albarn – The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

Inspired by the panoramic views seen from his home in Iceland, Damon Albarn’s second solo album is a study in painting landscapes with sound. It began its life before lockdown, when Albarn met with a classical music ensemble and improvised an orchestral sketch of the surrounding mountains, black sands, and water birds. The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows mixes these recordings with found sounds, pop beats and lyrics exploring loss and renewal, creating an arresting blend of ecopoetics and meditations on grief.

Albarn's appetite for eclectic instrumentation shines through, with a grab bag of sounds showing nature's changeable face. Slow piano chords merge with lingering synth notes and the occasional bleep in the title track, evoking the otherworldliness and solitude in Iceland’s scenery. Ululating flute and scraping violins veer into nature's chaotic side in Combustion, while Polaris juxtaposes lines about lost travellers with a jaunty piano tune and tone block.

Although not strictly a climate change album, Albarn captures the natural world’s majesty with great tenderness, and a sense of endings runs throughout. Lyrics abound about long gone eras and lost loved ones (Albarn’s close friend Tony Allen passed away last year). One particularly poignant image in The Cormorant imagines a cruise ship hosting the last party at the end of the world. Personal and social tragedies are twinned in this record, which looks for solace in the land.

Listen to: The Cormorant, Polaris, Combustion