RARE Damon Albarn APPLE CARTS - Dr Dee Opera - Shakespeare's Globe - The Nearer The Fountain launch

This concert was a one-off event premiering Albarn's new album The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows (out November 12, 2021) at Shakespeare's Globe Theater on Sept. 20, 2021 in London. For the rarely performed Apple Carts, Albarn and the band were joined on stage by the Icelanding musician Arngeir Hauksson on the incredible looking theorbo. (You don't want to miss the other Dr Dee song Edward Kelley with the contertenor Christopher Robson!). The night was a stunning amalgamation of Albarn's solo music and tracks from his other projects, including Blur, Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad and the Queen and the Dr Dee opera score. Albarn's exquisite sound alchemy made for a truly cathartic experience that night. Hope you enjoy the footage, 20 videos in all. Accompanying Albarn on stage were Mike Smith, Femi Koleoso on drums, Simon Tong on guitar, Seye Adelekan on bass, Seckou Keita on the kora, a violin tercet and countertenor Christopher Robson. The Nearer The Fountain album was initiated by the Lyon Festival commissioning Albarn to 'do whatever he wanted' and started life in 2019 as an orchestral project and live experience, inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. Albarn returned to the music in lockdown to develop the work into 11 tracks which “further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth”. The album title is from a John Clare poem Love and Memory. Albarn said during the concert that he created the music imagining a band playing on an abandoned cruise ship in an icy bay, with no one able to hear it.. FOLLOW. US   / wearethefor.  .   / theforevers     / theforeversband     / nataliasafran   http://nataliasafran.com Pull the apple carts Up from Silbury hill Higher until heaven reveals On the addled dawn, respond To great authority Singing hallelujah, hallelujah Love does reign In the kingdom of the broken heart The blackbird sings And the moon it laughs As war begins, dance Now burn the apple carts Burn them until a great fire begins To glow in the sky There beneath the stones, recharge From great austerity Raining down from above Distant is love Our disdain Pull the apple carts high up on the hill Set the cores alight The sea of glass is real Cast the barley out into prevailing winds Where it lands and grows The blackbird will sing [Chorus] In the kingdom of the broken heart A blackbird sings And the sun it laughs As war begins, dance