So far as prime artistic statements go, there are few as cohesive as Darkstar’s debut full-length North.
Three Northerners (James Young, Aiden Whalley and James Buttery), harnessing that preternatural melancholy of Northern England and doing so with so few reference points that they’ve nearly created a genre unto themselves.
This particular road North began several years ago, in a flat in London of all places. Having traveled south to the city from their hometowns, Whalley and Young marinated in the myriad underground music nights that London offered.
Darkstar | Gold
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=cL_lgdoiL7I
Soon they were throwing warehouse parties and producing and releasing their own 12”s informed by a shared appreciation of techno, leftfield pop music and the still-young sound of dubstep.
One of their creations soon caught the ear of consummate DJ Kode 9, and was released on his rapidly ascending Hyperdub label. That song, “Aidy’s Girl is a Computer” would become a club anthem of 2009.
Darkstar | Out of touch
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZaK66LL5Q1M
The next move would be to decamp to their East London flat to write and record and album. The band’s new composition would mark a step in new directions. Incorporating epic, timeless pop, primal post-punk and industrial and fusing these with their love of avant-garde club music and near-shamanic ambient creations would all lend North a gravity that few records in recent years have exuded.
An arcing evolution of Darkstar’s sound, the new album Timeaway stands uniquely as a brilliant culmination of the band’s history to this point as well as a significant vault ahead.
Darkstar | Amplified Ease
httpv://https://youtube.com/watch?v=P7lNoUxfQZA
After touring North across the globe, James Buttery, James Young and Aiden Whalley decamped to a house in the countryside of West Yorkshire, secluding themselves from the distractions of London and writing as a trio for the first time. Their upcoming Warp debut is a reflection of the time the spent together there.
Says Young, “Every place warrants a story. No matter where it is, how quiet, remote or disconnected. There are moments in people’s everyday lives, no matter how subtle, that can be documented and talked about in great detail. The instances spiral and ascend and take on their own course, altering the perception of how even the slightest change in a day can be felt deeply.”
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Darkstar LIVE
Wednesday, 06 February | 20:30 CET
Gretchen | Obentrautstr. 19-21 | 10963 Berlin/Kreuzberg
darkstar.ws | gretchen-club.de
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