January 31, 2013
Darkstar – 'News From Nowhere'
A twinkling set of songs that benefits from Wild Beasts soundman Richard Formby’s production touch
8 / 10
Logging on with the clockwork garage of ‘Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer’ in 2009, Darkstar have trodden a more eccentric path than most. The frostbitten grandeur of their debut album ‘North’ in 2010 prefigured post-dubstep’s move towards Proper Pop Songwriting by a few months. Now the London trio are back with the follow-up ‘News From Nowhere’, a twinkling set of songs that benefits from Wild Beasts soundman Richard Formby’s gossamer production touch. Shades of Arthur Russell and Pantha Du Prince abound, and some of it’s too subtle by half — but blow me if ‘A Day’s Pay For A Day’s Work’ isn’t the best song to sound like The Beach Boys since Panda Bear’s ‘Comfy In Nautica’. We weren’t expecting that.
Alex Denney
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