Having released a critically acclaimed album and then toured
it with a new live band, splashing himself across countless end-of-year charts
in the process, and having completed
a university degree in English Literature, you wouldn’t have blamed Nicolas
Jaar for taking the winter off for some rest and relaxation. Yet, time off
seems to be an alien concept for Mr Jaar. In addition to announcing a string of
winter European live-dates and releasing a free EP of new material, he’s also
found time to form a new side-project with guitarist pal Dave Harrington. This
three-track EP is the product of their musical fellowship.
Rather refreshingly, Darkside is relatively new territory
for Jaar. It’s noodling, plucked, reverb heavy post-rock infused electronica. It’s
as much guitars as it is beats, and not dissimilar to the magical Balearic-indie
that Studio cooked up in Sweden a few years back; slow, cool-as-fuck rhythm
guitars, dulled anxsty drums, and Jaar’s mono-dulcet tones repeating the same lines
over and over and over.
Simply titled A1, A2 and A3, each track builds around a
simplistic string refrain that slowly swells and gradually has layers added to
it. Like
their uniform titles, the tracks are overtly similar in length and tone and composition. The
effect is that this is an EP which sounds incredibly coherent and confident, but to some
will be a little monotonous. But, in my humble opinion, this
monochrome-approach works. Your ears zoom in on individual elements, whether the
almost-country riffs of A2, or the sudden inclusion of chilly IDM beats and
claps on A3. At fifteen minutes it’s feels like only a taster of what is to come and, to be honest, sounds like
highlights from a long jamming session if we’re being honest. But this is a concise,
ordered and enjoyable new addition to Jaar’s ever-burgeoning musical portfolio.