☆☆☆☆
Image: Horacio Bolz
On their fourth Studio album, Django Django continue their groundbreaking, genre-defying sound, creating a soundtrack for all your escapist dreams. Creating synth-laden soundscapes infused with psych-rock threads of nostalgia, Glowing In The Dark conceptually weaves together multi-faceted themes of escape, complete with sci-fi imagery. Written prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the album serves as a prolific document that removes itself from reality to transport listeners into another world, where they can run free away from the trials and tribulations faced in the day-to-day operations of life.
Opening with the records lead single Spirals, listeners are greeted by scintillating synths that mesmerise as the track plays out. Building to a crescendo, echoed vocals sweep in, atop looped guitars and drums whilst conceptually reminding us that we are connected by humanity. The looped fun continues on Got Me Worries, built upon a percussion loop with an unexpected lyrical verse in Portuguese. On Waking Up, the four-piece team up with Charlotte Gainsbourg as they contemplate leaving their lives behind, answering the siren call from the open road in search of a new life. Free From Gravity finds its groove with a funk based bass line, gliding atop a spatial and atmospheric soundscape. Whereas Headrush brings some good old Brit-punk, as front man Vincent Neff sings “our time is up, it’s a headrush” atop a captivating bass line.
Following the cosmic and spatial synth-led interlude The Ark, the album takes a brief detour into folk-based sounds on The World Will Turn, taking on a more acoustic approach within the record. Night of the Buffalo is a moment of solidarity, commenting on the stolen lands of Indigenous peoples. Bringing a tinge of disco, Kick The Devil Out returns to the funk sounds sprinkled throughout the record, introducing a gospel choir before we find ourselves at the albums most genre-defying moment, Glowing In The Dark. The albums title track is built around a sample taken from a spoken word record by Dave Maclean, which sees the band go full force with Moog synths and drum loops, propelling the song into the stratosphere.
Taking listeners on a ride through their expansive sonics, the band offer their audience a moment to escape, a moment away from their daily routine to contemplate the social and political themes explored throughout the record. Glowing In The Dark cements itself as one of Django Django’s most compelling releases to date with its brazen versatility, stylistically never settling on one defining genre.
4/5 Stars.
Glowing In The Dark is out now!