CLUBS

Critic-confounding threesome Darkstar have consigned their dubstep origins to the background of their subtly developing sound. Rory Gibb lights up.

Given the sound of Darkstar’s early releases – not to mention their label Hyperdub’s reputation as a purveyor of varied, dubstep-influenced music – their debut album ‘North’ arrived as something of a shock to those who expected another gorgeous slice of fluorescent two-step in the vein of 2009 single ‘Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer’. Still, once startled opinion had settled, the album’s understated charm began to sink into wider consciousness, as if, on initial inspection, it had almost been too subtle.

What the trio of James Young, Aiden Whalley and James Buttery achieved with ‘North’ was a distillation. Rather than expanding outward in ever more opulent directions, as many of their contemporaries did, they pared their music down to its absolute essence. So the robot-human interface mapped by ‘Need You’ and the android serenade of ‘Squeeze My Lime’ was refined into 10 short, sharp shocks, as much in thrall to 80s electro-pop as anything that emerged from dubstep. A few months down the line they’re heading out on their first UK tour, calling at Start The Bus.

If ‘North’’s lack of immediate dancefloor action prompted confusion, it has also allowed the group time to hone their live show into something that extends far beyond the limits of a DJ set. Their earliest domestic shows indicated a taste for atmosphere: silhouetted in a backlit green glow and shrouded in dry ice, they framed the shimmering heartbreak of album highlight ‘Two Chords’ in sharp visual relief. At that stage they were only beginning to find their feet in the live arena. “Since then, we’ve had lots of sonic advances,” James Young explains. “Just getting used to each other, getting used to the set, refining what’s good and seeing what doesn’t quite work. It’s been difficult, but it’s working well.”

“It’s amazing if you can get your headspace right when you’re out on tour,” he continues, aware of the group’s transition from club-centred act to far more expansive live unit. “When you find the space to relax beforehand and think, it makes such a difference. Then when we do a good show, there’s nothing like it.”

Still lurking at the core of their sound is an intrinsic feel for the space and atmosphere of the dubstep world they originally emerged from, promising a beautiful collision of nervy highs and deep, darkened lows.

NO NEED TO SHOUT WAS AT START THE BUS, BRISTOL ON FRI 25 FEB. FFI: WWW.HYPERDUB.NET
 

Copyright Rory Gibb 2011

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