Django Django at their indefinable best on new album Glowing in the Dark

: by Joe Sharratt; in Reviews; on 22 February 2021

London-based four-piece Django Django have long been a difficult band to label. Mixing electro and rock elements, with an art house aesthetic and an indie foundation, they’ve consistently turned out big, melodic tunes across their three albums to date, even if the edges have blurred between genres throughout their back catalogue.

With their newly released fourth studio album Glowing In The Dark, they’ve mixed things up yet again. Most noticeably, this is through a loose theme of other-worldly escapism that runs throughout the album, with little science fiction inspired flourishes. But beneath these aspects, there’s still plenty of big tracks and intricate constructions.

Opening number Spirals is a glorious start, building from a spirally synth intro into a bassy, dizzying affair, while Headrush revolves around a huge bassline and shifts gear into a dreamy chorus. Waking Up, with guest vocals from Charlotte Gainsbourg, is glorious, a ghostly and soft track that floats along on its beautiful vocals and jangly riffs with a very sixties feel that the lyrics only add to (“Waking up to the fact we're never coming back / Our home is the open road / Waking up to the fact w?'re leaving our tracks / Our home is th? open road”).

It would be impossible to review Glowing In The Dark without paying significant tribute to it’s big, bold title track and lead single. From a garage-esque intro we get velvety synths and a pulsating, strutting three minutes. New single Free From Gravity is the other side of the coin, a melodic, airy track that best highlights the otherworldly elements that permeate the album.

Overall, Glowing In The Dark is a thoughtful, eclectic and well constructed effort from a band who continue to surprise with each new release.

Glowing In The Dark tracklist: