Darkstar

London's Darkstar produce fractured experimental pop that draws from the U.K. bass music continuum as well as R&B and vintage synth pop. Initially associated with the dubstep/garage scene, the duo made waves near the end of the 2000s with vocoder-heavy tracks such as "Need You" and "Aidy's Girl Is a Computer." The group moved away from dance music with their subsequent full-lengths, including the melancholy ambient pop of 2010's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperdub%22">Hyperdub</a>-issued North and several releases for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warp%22">Warp</a>, including the conceptual 2015 full-length Foam Island.

Darkstar debuted in 2007, when producers James Young and Aiden Whalley released the "Dead 2 Me" and "Lilyliver" singles, as well as a split 12" shared with <a href="spotify:artist:0e1hn6R8UCfLkpHINwAyXR">Zomby</a>. A handful of additional 12" releases followed in 2008 and 2009. The twitchy "Aidy's Girl Is a Computer" (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperdub%22">Hyperdub</a>) was the most significant one of the lot, backed by a remix from Detroiter <a href="spotify:artist:41OIv2uCiP3bPfbFYbnWSy">Kyle Hall</a> and placed in best-of-2009 features by a handful of high-profile publications, including The Guardian. After vocalist James Buttery was added to the lineup, Darkstar completed their debut album, North (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperdub%22">Hyperdub</a>), and released it in October 2010, with a mellow cover of <a href="spotify:artist:1aX2dmV8XoHYCOQRxjPESG">the Human League</a>'s 1982 B-side "You Remind Me of Gold" issued as a single.

The trio returned in November 2012 with "Timeaway" and followed up with the song's parent album, the lighter and brighter News from Nowhere (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warp%22">Warp</a>), in February 2013. Following this record, Buttery left the group, and Darkstar once again became a duo with Whalley handling vocals. In 2015, they released Kirklees Arcadia, a mixtape of new material, collaborations, and remixes. This preceded Darkstar's third full-length album, Foam Island, a collage-like effort that combined beat-driven vocal tracks with more experimental interludes and snippets of interviews with young adults living in Huddersfield, England. In 2016, Darkstar and <a href="spotify:artist:2tNUKcbM4BqLCkbhGZqcyI">Gwilym Gold</a> worked with choreographer Holly Blakey on a dance piece titled Some Greater Class. A single containing two songs from the performance, "Rope" and "Folk," was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22The+Vinyl+Factory%22">The Vinyl Factory</a>. Darkstar also issued Made to Measure, an EP including collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:5QuBVnBPEzwYvFrgBbwpmU">Empress Of</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:543QE1sqcqcNAL8JSK4Jzd">Gaika</a>, the same year.

The pair kept busy with further collaborations and commissions. They composed a piece for the 2017 New Music Biennial, which was performed at Royal Festival Hall with organist <a href="spotify:artist:4aFXwGxCEd4fSBcXE7N3V5">James McVinnie</a>. This was followed by a performance with <a href="spotify:artist:1Uw2tN8RWQAKO3jtsqIJ8M">the London Contemporary Orchestra</a> at 2018's Organ Reframed festival held in Union Chapel, and pieces for 2019's Unclassified Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall. Darkstar returned to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warp%22">Warp</a> in 2020 with their fourth full-length, Civic Jams. Refracting shoegaze, rave, and 2-step influences, the album contained observations of the duo's home and surrounding community. ~ Andy Kellman & Paul Simpson, Rovi