After last year’s surprise return with “Liberty Bell”, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington aka Darkside promised a new album called Spiral for Spring 2021. Well, we’ve arrived in Spring 2021 and there hadn’t been any more news – until now: Spiral has officially been announced for release on July 23 through Matador. So, Summer after all, but perhaps Jaar and Harrington just enjoyed playing together too much, and couldn’t figure out how to cut it down.
Jaar says: “From the beginning, DARKSIDE has been our jam band. Something we did on days off. When we reconvened, it was because we really couldn’t wait to jam together again.”
Harrington adds: “We do things in this band that we would never do on our own. DARKSIDE is the third being in the room that just kind of occurs when we make music together.”
New single “The Limit” is testament to the above quotes, as it shifts and surprises throughout its five minutes. At first it seems like a shaggy and psychedelic jam that incorporates plenty of errant tones to give it a mossy and engrossing atmosphere. We would have happily ridden this out with Darkside for five minutes, but around two minutes Jaar laments about the “wrong direction”, and “The Limit” takes a diversion into a place full of metallic screeches. They soon get it back on track, but again lose interest in the rhythm, dissolving it into a weird and wonderful aural experiment for the final minute. It’s a true trip.
Find “The Limit” on streaming platforms or below.
Darkside’s new album Spiral arrives on July 23 via Matador (pre-order/save). Find the project on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Bandcamp.
