The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows: Vinyl LP IDLES music critic Nick Kent

music critic Nick Kent

these carefully restored live albums will comprise the entirety of each show in the format of a story with a beginning

they offer two new singles

While much of the material for IBARAKI was assembled over those months and years – as much a songwriting process as an exchange of ideas between friends – it wasn’t until the pandemic that the space was created and the idea could really flourish

The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows: Vinyl LP IDLES music critic Nick KentThe 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