Every time Django Django release a new album I get excited. This is a band that’s carved out a reputation for being extremely unique with their epic soundscapes and scattered melodies. The band have a distinct style and on their new album, ‘Glowing In The Dark’, that style evolves into a collection of tracks about escape.
After following Django Django for a number of years, I’ve come to accept the fact that their songs will never feel repetitive. Although they have an iconic style that’s both eclectic and intricate, they have a way of transforming that style with every new project they release.
‘Glowing In the Dark’ is different to their other albums for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they’ve been able to blend a variety of genres into their own signature production style and make it still feel completely natural. ‘Got Me Worried’, ‘Headrush’, ‘Night Of The Buffalo’, and ‘Kick The Devil Out’ all have elements of different genres to them, but at the same time, still feel like something you’d expect to hear from Django Django. It’s expectedly unexpected, in a way.
‘Spirals’, ‘Free From Gravity’, ‘Right The Wrongs’ and the album’s title track, ‘Glowing In The Dark’, all feel comfortably familiar, but one of the greatest parts about this album is in amongst all of these familiar melodies and small experimentations, there are still surprises. The band is still keeping us all on our toes.
The first big surprise is ‘Waking Up’, a track that features vocals from Charlotte Gainsbourg. This is a big feature artist to get on an album, but after hearing the track, you wonder why this pairing hadn’t happened sooner. Charlotte’s voice slides perfectly into the experimental, alternative world of Django Django with her vocals floating above the subtle synths and powerful guitar riffs. It’s a very sultry track and just melts into your mind.
Another surprise on ‘Glowing In The Dark’ is ‘The Ark’. This song is very dark and highlights warped samples that feel like they’ve leaped right out of a horror movie. The song is animalistic, visceral and heavy. It’s a complete 180 from the more upbeat songs we heard before it, but turns us over into the second half of the album.
‘The World Will Turn’ is an interesting track because Django Django’s iconic production is noticeably absent. Instead, the melody is led by acoustic guitars, a series of strings and subtle atmospherics which, all together, create more of a folksy vibe. Twinkling accents dance above the vocal and you feel like you should be staring at the stars while you listen to this song which, considering the song title, may have been the intent.
The surprises keep on coming on the album with ‘Hold Fast’ bringing a bit of disco to the table and ‘Asking For More’ bringing us into a video game-inspired, digital wonderland. This album just has so much going for it and proves that no matter what you throw at Django Django, they’ll be able to use their distinctive creativity to develop music that could live in any era and any genre.
Fans of Django Django will love ‘Glowing In The Dark’, people who’ve never even heard of Django Django will love it. Why? Because no matter which track you listen to, you instantly become intrigued by it and discover the small intricacies that make it so exciting. It’s a brilliant album and absolutely timeless.
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