Damon Albarn, the musical polyglot behind Blur, Gorillaz, and umpteen other projects, is releasing his second official solo album this fall. Thus far the rollout has yielded title track “The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows” plus updates on his famous bands. Today a second single from the new LP has dropped.

“Polaris” is more uptempo than Albarn’s prior single, but it maintains an essential drowsy, downcast mood despite the abundance of beats and flourishes like unhinged saxophone. The live version of the song he released today — the first in a series called Sublime Boulevards – Performance Films directed by Transgressive Records founder Toby L — really brings out its more celebratory elements. It’s the closest Albarn has ever sounded to late Radiohead/solo Thom Yorke, but that bossa nova pulse fits well within his own musical history.

Albarn also guested on the latest episode of Mark Ronson’s The FADER Uncovered podcast, so below you can check out the live and studio versions of “Polaris” and the Ronson podcast.

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows is out 11/12 on Transgressive.