The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows, May 17

SAMRICHARDS

Barn storming: Albarn performs live from his Devon studio, along to rehearsal tapes of his largely Icelandic ensemble

Iceland-inspired orchestral piece becomes more personal

ON Albarn to new May be opus, performing 17, was Damon backed meant his by an ensemble of 14 largely Icelandic musicians conducted by André de Ridder, at the Brussels Centre For Fine Arts. Instead he is sitting alone at the piano in his home studio, a converted barn in Devon, ruefully stroking his lockdown beard. Things have not turned out as he - or indeed anybody - had hoped. On the other hand, Albarn reckons there might be something in this music that could be useful for us at this time, even in its not-quite-fnished form.

Instrumental passages can be harsh and atonal, but the songs are wistful, melodious

And he’s right, of course. The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows is named after a line by English romantic poet John Clare - a “strong, hopeful phrase”, says Albarn, that “now seems very poignant”. Broadcast on Boiler Room’s YouTube channel in aid of the Global Foodbanking Network, this is merely a 20-minute taster of a longer work. However, by the end, it becomes hard to imagine hearing it in a bustling concert hall, so well does it seem to articulate the frustration and longing of our current situation.