Damon Albarn has announced that he’ll be heading out on a special piano tour next month in support of his forthcoming new solo album.
The Blur and Gorillaz frontman’s ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’ is due to arrive on November 12 via Transgressive, marking his first release for the label since signing in June.
Albarn has so far previewed five songs from the upcoming album: the title track, ‘Polaris’, ‘Particles’, ‘Royal Morning Blue’ and the most recent track ‘The Tower Of Montevideo’ – all of which have also received performance videos along with their releases.
Albarn will embark on an intimate tour in December to promote the release of ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’, taking in shows in York, Norwich, Newcastle, Glasgow and Coventry.
“Limited ticket bundles on sale tomorrow for a special set of short, intimate piano performances, in partnership with local record stores,” Albarn wrote on Instagram. “Playing tracks from the new album #TNTF as well as selected favourites.”
Tickets go on sale tomorrow (November 5) at 10:00am – get them here. You can see the full list of dates below.
Damon Albarn’s special piano tour dates:
DECEMEBER 2021
2 – York Minster, York
4 – UEA, Norwich
5 – The Boiler Shop, Newcastle
6 – St. Luke’s, Glasgow
7 – Empire, Coventry
Speaking to NME ahead of the album’s release, Albarn expounded on how it was conceptualised as a way to lift him out of the “storms” of the outside world and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I just felt like the beginning of this year was so grim and I had to do something to lift me out of those, I wouldn’t call doldrums, but storms – those terrible north wind storms that you get down by the sea in Devon sometimes,” he explained.
Albarn performed a “spectral, minimalist showcase” of his new album at the End Of The Road festival last month, with NME reviewer Jordan Bassett praising his set for “reaffirm[ing] just how restlessly innovative he’s been since the heady days of Britpop”.
The post Damon Albarn announces December piano tour in support of new album appeared first on NME.
