Damon Albarn Announces New Show For Edinburgh International Festival

Edinburgh International Festival (7 - 29 August) has announced an additional show from Damon Albarn as part of its 2021 contemporary music programme. Following high demand for tickets for his first show, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman will give two appearances at Edinburgh Park for the world's leading performing arts festival on Tuesday 24 August, with one at 5pm and a further show at 8.30pm.

Accompanied by his band and a string quartet, the Edinburgh International Festival performances mark a rare solo appearance for Damon Albarn, who presents tracks from across his songbook, including his forthcoming new album The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows. 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.

Other highlights of the International Festival's contemporary music programme include soulful singer Laura Mvula with material from her new album Pink Noise and one of Neu! Reekie!'s distinctive cross-culture experiences headlined by Orange Juice front man and Scottish singer-songwriter royalty Edwyn Collins.

Anna Mereditha??returns to Edinburgh to perform her second albuma??FIBS, Nadine Shaha??performs her latest albuma??The Kitchen Sink and Kathryn Joseph joins the bill with her haunting, beautiful balladry.a??Jazz artists includea??female-leda??music collectivea??Kokoroko, producer-drummera??Moses Boyd and London'sa??The Comet is Coming.

Edinburgh-based Scottish/African choir Shona the Music Choir present original songs from Shona the Musical, bringing alive the vibrancy, splendour and joyous harmonies of Africa with an eclectic western twist.

Northumbrian musiciana??Richard Dawsona??performs tracks from his concept albumsa??Peasanta??anda??2020, anda??multi-disciplinary artist and composera??Erland Coopera??performs music from his Orkney trilogy:a??Solan Goose,a??Sule Skerrya??anda??Hether Blether.a??The Unthanksa??perform their poetic mixture ofa??folka??musica??and storytellinga??anda??indie folk sister trioa??The Stavesa??play songs from their new albuma??Good Woman.a??a??a??

Art rock four-piece black midia??make an appearance, whilea??fellow Londonersa??Black Country,a??New Roada??play tracks from their debut albuma??Fora??Thea??First Time.a??a??

Electronic artists on the line-up includea??Floating Points, combining his classically trained background with UK garage, spiritual jazz and broken-beat influences,a??anda??Canadian electronic artista??Dan Snaith, AKAa??Caribou, with his latest LPa??Suddenly.a??a??a??

International Artists includea??Malian singer-songwriter, guitarist and acclaimed actressa??Fatoumata Diawaraa??witha??material from hera??Wassoulou and Mali blues influenced back catalogue.a??Californiana??art-pop duoa??Tune-Yardsa??performa??material from their latest albuma??sketchy.a??

The programme also includes West Lothian indie heroes The Snuts, whose debut album became the first by a Scottish band to top the Official Album chart in 14 years, and Glasgow-based four-piece Tide Lines with their trademark anthemic folk rock.

A full line-up can be found ata??www.eif.co.uk/contemporarymusic.

Tickets for Damon Albarn's additional performance on Tuesday 24 August, 5pm are on sale now at www.eif.co.uk/events/damon-albarn.

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