- Jaar and Harrington make a good, not great second album.
- When groups describe themselves as a jam-band, you envision them coming together and, for lack of a better term, just vibing—putting their most digestible sounds on display for the sake of cohesion and some harmless fun. When Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington hit jam-band mode, on the other hand, it feels like a ritual, or the translation of some extra-dimensional messages into sound. They seem to have picked up on this: "We have that kind of third eye, mind-meld connection that comes from some kind of cosmic luck," Harrington told Stereogum in a recent interview. Darkside's 2013 debut album Psychic was a bluesy, psychedelic cult classic that fused modern electronic music with traditional rock methods, touring the world before snuffing out their slow-burning flame and suddenly going on hiatus. Spiral, their new album, shows that their mind-meld connection is as strong as ever, with nine more songs of smouldering psych-rock.
Spiral, which is as trippy and dense as anything else the band has done, oscillates between insular and expansive approaches to sound. When a track like "The Question Is To See It All" finally opens up, it feels like grey clouds clearing, the kiss of sunlight on the skin. And "I'm The Echo" bares its fangs from the word go, with its scorching riffs and predatory glide. But most of it is glum and dense, like the venomous "Lawmaker." With its calloused groove and percussive clang, it falls into the "insular" bracket, as Jaar mumbles about fraudulent doctors with political agendas.
That timeless Jar feeling of being lost and alone in some unfamiliar place defines Spiral as much of any his other albums. Decay and overgrowth are all around, and you never know if you're in safe hands or facing some kind of impending doom, while Jaar's far-away voice hardly offers comfort or direction. "The Question Is To See It All," for example, opens with a laid-back, disarming bass line, only for it to be backed by the sounds of a blade being sharpened. The word "cinematic" feels like an understatement here.
Still, in terms of sheer scope, "The Limit" is the only time that on Spiral that Darkside get close to creating something as instantly iconic as "Paper Trails" from Psychic. It's also the gesture that best embodies the album's title, as Harrington's enchanting guitar work loops over and over while Jaar's vocal performance borders on hypnotic. At moments like these, or the swaggering gallop of "Liberty Bell," you hear the hallowed synergy that's impressive enough to warrant the title of "supergroup."
But more often than not Jaar and Harrington feel guarded here. Every song is cold to the touch with a foreboding aura, warning you of ominous obstacles (limits, narrow roads, lawmakers) while the songs themselves are usually too timid to make any of these feel like legitimate threats. Each song is loaded with interesting sounds, but it's like the duo don't quite know what to do with them—too many songs falter just when you'd expect them to explode.
As a technical display, every song on Spiral is a marvel, though as a whole it feels like a missed opportunity. By the time the outro "Only Young" gathers momentum, you're left dazzled by its wide open embrace and haunting sense of funk, exuding a charm that would've been welcome on the rest of the album—only for it to suddenly become muted. The LP's spirally nature is actually its biggest problem, as the duo choose to coil back into themselves again and again, creating a merely good album that’s on the cusp of greatness.
Tracklist01. Narrow Road
02. The Limit
03. The Question Is To See It All
04. Lawmaker
05. I'm The Echo
06. Spiral
07. Liberty Bell
08. Inside Is Out There
09. Only Young