Here it is: Damon Albarn's next solo album has been announced. The "sort of folk soul" project (as he described it to Rolling Stone), made with the help of XL Recordings head Richard Russell, is called Everyday Robots. It's out April 28, Revolt reports.

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows, the new studio album from Damon Albarn, will be released by new label home Transgressive Records on 12th November 2021.
The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows was originally intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This last year has seen Albarn return to the music in lockdown and develop the work to 11 tracks which further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth. The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller. The album title is taken from a John Clare poem Love and Memory.
Albarn says “I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist.”
Alongside a digital release, there will be limited edition white vinyl format, plus CD and cassette. There will also be a deluxe version of the album, taking the form of a casebound book with additional photography, original scanned lyrics and artwork from Damon, alongside a white vinyl version of the album, a high quality digital file and a bonus 7” featuring an exclusive song from the recording sessions.

“Journey To The West”中文翻译过来其实就是“西游记”，这张专辑是基于出于华人导演陈士争之手的同名音乐剧——《Journey To The West》的一张音乐专辑。这部音乐剧从08年6月起在欧洲巡回演出，明年将会去北美上演。这张专辑或者说这部音乐剧之所以会被公众关注还有很大一个原因是这个外国版的《西游记》请到了Blur乐队的作曲主唱Damon Albarn，以及Damon Albarn的搭档Jamie Hewlett分别来作曲和做舞台服装设计。而Damon Albarn和Jamie Hewlett 正是风靡全球的虚拟电子乐队Gorillaz的两位首脑。
虽然是外国人制作，但是整张专辑都是由中文来演唱的。风格也是与Gorillaz的风格大不相同，但是为了看看外国人是怎样理解中国的文化还是可以尝试一下这张专辑的。
转载自

Following the success of Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West, ENO presents the London premiere of Albarn’s visionar y new opera Dr Dee.
Although largely unknown today, Doctor Dee was the quintessential Renaissance Man. From astrology to alchemy and physics to philosophy, his thirst for knowledge was insatiable and, as a key advisor to Elizabeth I, he is credited with providing much of the intelligence which shaped ‘the British Empire’ established under her rule. Dee also dabbled in the occult and, ultimately, this fascination destroyed him. Conned by a deranged medium, Dee’s career ended in disgrace and sexual scandal and he died discredited and penniless.
This fascinating figure is bought to life by the extraordinary talents of composer and musician Damon Albarn, and director Rufus Norris. Albarn’s music is an ingenious mix of pop vocals, much of which he will perform live on-stage, with contemporary orchestral music played on 16th-century period instruments. Rufus Norris’s staging presents five centuries of English history and the three realms of earth, heaven and hell, with the virtuosic flare which has secured him a raft of awards and five-star reviews from London to Broadway.

It's usually a sign of trouble when a member of a successful band decides to veer off from the safety of Rock's Lost Highway, to have a wander down the B-road of "and-this-is-me" solo action.
While Damon is no stranger to working outside the Blur unit - Gorillaz, Mali Music and several soundtracks show that already - this album is not quite what you'd expect from the frontman of a band at the top of its game.
Democrazy is not to be confused with anything as such as a solo debut album - if it was then I'm sure the public might at least know about it! Instead, it is released on Damon's own Honest Jons imprint, and, oh, to make it even more of an outside bet for giving Dido sleepless nights about chart placings, it is limited to 5000 10" double vinyl copies, and is only available from selected record emporia too.
In other words, it couldn't be more of an investment for a future eBay million if it was gold-plated and signed personally by its creator.
But what is it like? Well, it's completely opposite to the full-on joy of some of Albarn's best-est creations. The tunes and moments - and they are moments, with some lasting less than a minute - are the rough sketches that Damon was playing about with in his hotel room while Blur were doing the day job on their American tour earlier this year.
The exciting thing about Democrazy is that it dismantles Albarn's songwriting process. Some of these tunes, such as the splendid Half A Song and Five Star Life, could become future Blur or Gorillaz classics. It's warm to know this was how the likes of Beetlebum, Clint Eastwood and This Is A Low probably started out.
Damon drones, croons and murmurs hungover-ly, using the sort of minimal keyboards last considered futuristic back in 1981, along with, who knows, percussion from the minibar, and some tell-tale melodica. This is as no-fi as possible but if you enter into the spirit of it, and don't expect Pro Tools and other hi-tech space gubbins, then Democrazy can be rewarding.
So, Democrazy may not a solo album, but provided you can find a copy, it is a little extra something to put in every switched-on Blur fan's stocking this year.

After years of keeping himself busy with other projects, Damon Albarn is finally ready to release his first solo album, the title track of which is now online

Blur frontman Damon Albarn will release his solo album Everyday Robots on April 28 through Parlophone. Following the title track, "Lonely Press Play", and several live performances, Albarn has shared another album cut, "Heavy Seas of Love", which features vocal contributions from Brian Eno.

"Mr. Tembo" is the fourth single recorded by English recording artist and songwriter and Blur & Gorillaz frontman, Damon Albarn, from his debut solo studio album Everyday Robots. It was released purely in America as a single. The track features The Leytonstone City Mission Choir and contains a sample of "Lions", from the 1959 album "Way Out Humour" as written and performed by Richard Buckley. The track is produced by both Albarn and Richard Russell, whom Albarn has previously worked with on Bobby Womack's comeback album The Bravest Man in the Universe and on the DRC Music album, Kinshasa One Two.