Darkstar announce their fourth album Civic Jams on Warp. On their most personal record to date, Darkstar counterbalance observations of their home with those of the community surrounding it. Civic Jams is a photonegative of a dance record shaped by a dialogue between shoegaze atmospherics and UK bass music’s ‘hardcore continuum’. Darkstar find themselves at once looking homeward and venturing further into their own psychic hinterland with each record. They’ve covered a lot of ground from the introspective expanse of their debut North [2010], to utopian visions of society in News From Nowhere [2013] and the unique dynamics of a pre-Brexit northern England on Foam Island [2015]. On their latest offering, home is within reach. Inspired by the intervening years, Darkstar (aka Aiden Whalley and James Young) show how the personal can be political and reveal more of themselves than they’ve ever done before. Imagine emotional realism built from spectral rave echoes, anchored in timeless songs of love and loss in the digital now and you’ve got it. Patterns of isolation are increasingly easy to fall into, especially when public spaces where people play, socialise, dance and protest are closed. Civic Jams is about reminiscing over loss, whilst moving forward with those we love. It offers an abstract look at life’s nuances and the search to find something to hold on to and enjoy
