Darkstar – Civic Jams (Vinyl LP)

Label: Warp Records

Cat No: WARPLP312

Five years on from their last full-length excursion, Darkstar return with "Civic Jams", a socio-politically charged set that Warp says was influenced by two decidedly disparate musical inspirations: the opaque, slowly shfiting sonic density pf shoegaze, and 30 years of the British bass music continuum. In practice, that means a striking fusion of tactile vocals, drowsy electronics, wall-of-sound chords and crunchy, off-kilter rhythms that tip a wink to hip-hop, grime, dubstep, breakbeat and more, while never sounding specifically like any of them. It's not a club-focused set, but it an undeniably impactful one, primarily because its inherent bittersweet beauty and weary melancholia seems in tune with these unusual, claustrophobic times.

CLICK TRACK TO LISTEN 

A1 Forest 3:25
A2 Jam 3:30
A3 1001 4:49
A4 30 3:08
A5 Wolf 5:29
B1 Loon 4:10
B2 Tuesday 4:44
B3 Text 5:25
B4 Blurred 2:45