Spiral (Darkside album)

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Spiral
Darkside Spiral Album.jpg
Studio album by
Darkside
ReleasedJuly 23, 2021 (2021-07-23)
GenreElectronic
Length51:46
LabelMatador
ProducerDarkside
Darkside chronology
Psychic
(2014) 		Spiral
(2021)
Singles from Spiral
  1. "Liberty Bell"
    Released: December 21, 2020

Spiral is the second album by electronic music duo Darkside, consisting of Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington, with a released date of July 23, 2021, via Matador Records. It was one of Pitchfork's 41 Most Anticipated Albums of 2021.[1]

Production[]

Following the critically-successful Psychic in 2014 and a tour that concluded at Brooklyn Masonic Temple during September of that same year,[2] Darkside members Harrington and Jaar branched individual pursuits – Harrington focusing as composer for two albums made under Dave Harrington Group and Jaar pursuing two collections as Against All Logic and five solo releases.[3][4]

Reconvening, the album was written and recorded in 2018, with six of the songs largely made through an extended week-long session during the summer in Flemington, NJ.[3][4][5] It would take another year and half for the entire album to coalesce completely.[2][5]

Harrington discussed the idiosyncratic interactions that take place when the two converge together, stating "it felt like it was time; we do things in this band that we would never do on our own".[5] Agreeing, Jaar explained the gravitation that they had shared toward the collaborative project: "we couldn't wait to jam together again".[5]

Release[]

In December 2020, Darkside announced their second album would be released in the spring of 2021.[2][6][7] At that time, they also released the song "Liberty Bell", which was their first studio release since 2014, breaking a six-year hiatus.[2][6][7]

The album was ultimately pushed back to July 23, 2021, and Matador published another song "The Limit" in April 2021.[5][8] In June, a third song "Lawmaker" was released.[5][9]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[10]
Metacritic80/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[12]
Exclaim!9/10[13]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[14]
Loud and Quiet8/10[15]
NME4/5 stars[16]
Paste8.2/10[17]
Pitchfork6.8/10[18]
PopMatters6/10[19]
The Skinny4/5 stars[20]
Slant Magazine3/5 stars[21]

Upon its release, Spiral received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 79, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[11]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington.

Spiral track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Narrow Road"6:15
2."The Limit"5:21
3."The Question Is to See It All"5:08
4."Lawmaker"5:49
5."I'm the Echo"5:08
6."Spiral"4:58
7."Liberty Bell"4:02
8."Inside Is Out There"8:35
9."Only Young"6:30
Total length:51:46

Personnel[]

Darkside

Additional personnel

  • Rashad Becker – mixing
  • Heba Kadry – mastering

Charts[]

Chart performance for Spiral
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 40
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 74
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[24] 82
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 76
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 24

References[]

  1. ^ Nast, Condé (January 5, 2021). "The 41 Most Anticipated Albums of 2021: Kendrick, Rihanna, Adele, and More". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Nast, Condé (December 21, 2020). "Darkside Announce New Album Spiral, Share New Song "Liberty Bell"". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Spiral - Darkside | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved July 23, 2021
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Matador Records". matadorrecords.com. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Darkside Announces New Album Spiral for July 2021 Release and Groove on New Song "Lawmaker" -". mxdwn Music. June 6, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington Announce New DARKSIDE Album Spiral for Spring 2021 Release and Share New Song "Liberty Bell" -". mxdwn Music. December 21, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "Darkside reunite to announce new album 'Spiral', share single 'Liberty Bell'". NME. December 22, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Darkside share atmospheric new track 'The Limit' from second album 'Spiral'". NME. April 8, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  9. ^ "Darkside release brooding new song 'Lawmaker'". NME. June 3, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "Spiral by Darkside reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Spiral by Darkside Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Spiral – Darkside". AllMusic. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  13. ^ Boire, Anthony (July 20, 2021). "Darkside's 'Spiral' Mourns the End of the World — and Celebrates What We Still Have Left". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Evan Lilly (July 22, 2021). "Darkside's Spiral doesn't quite match its predecessors grandeur". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  15. ^ Butchard, Skye (July 19, 2021). "Darkside Spiral". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  16. ^ Krol, Charlotte (July 22, 2021). "Darkside – 'Spiral' review: a gorgeous, filmic record that rewards with each spin". NME. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  17. ^ Davis, Ted (July 21, 2021). "After 8 Years of Silence, DARKSIDE Make an Ambitious Return to Form". Paste. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  18. ^ Ian Cohen (July 23, 2021). "Darkside: Spiral Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  19. ^ "Darkside Are Torn Between Convention and the Avant-Garde on 'Spiral'". PopMatters. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  20. ^ Inglis, Tony (July 20, 2021). "Darkside – Spiral". The Skinny. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  21. ^ Lyons-Burt, Charles (July 19, 2021). "Review: Darkside's Spiral Is a Tapestry of Cool Sounds in Search of Direction". Slant Magazine. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  22. ^ "Ultratop.be – Darkside – Spiral" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  23. ^ "Ultratop.be – Darkside – Spiral" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  24. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Darkside – Spiral" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  26. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Darkside – Spiral". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
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