Darkside : Nothing
In 2014, Darkside delivered the rare festival set defined more by mystique than crowd-shaking energy at FYF Fest. With Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington each positioned on opposite sides of the stage, flanking a giant circular mirror centerpiece, the duo provided a psychedelic journey through the dubby cosmic jams from their 2013 album Psychic. Their bodies just darkened silhouettes against a glowing backdrop, they ceded center stage to the massive piece of glass that hung suspended, slowly rotating and refracting beams of light over the crowd as if to make their name’s connection to Pink Floyd’s landmark album even more tangible—not that their stoned, space-age dirges didn’t do that well enough on their own. But as the set came to a close, Harrington hoisted his guitar and smashed the colossal prism to bits, pieces of which later ended up on eBay.
The mirror smashing kicked ass, of course, but it served as an act of symbolic destruction. At the time, the band had only five more shows scheduled, and before the year’s end, they’d call an indefinite hiatus, which in most instances is code for broken up. But within seven years—mid-pandemic lockdown no less—Darkside made an unexpected return with 2021’s Spiral, a satisfyingly groovy return to their disco-prog hybrid. But the group’s third album Nothing is where the real smashing happens, emphasizing their darker and noisier elements as they put even greater emphasis on a wild and frenzied immediacy.
Since the release of Spiral, Darkside have expanded from a duo to a trio, further fleshing out their sound with the addition of percussionist Tlacael Esparza. His contributions provide an immediate and tangible enhancement to the songs on Nothing. These songs often feel heavier and more physical, the kinds of jams that can transform a show from hypnotic to wild and hedonistic. Nowhere is this more immediate than on the first single, “Graucha Max,” a raucous and pulsing track driven by heavy permutations of krautrock rhythms. And yet Esparza is, if anything, a grounding influence as Jaar and Harrington bash their way through a fiery freakout that’s equal parts Talking Heads and “Alabama Song” after a few more whiskeys.
That sense of physicality likewise drives standouts such as “S.N.C,” which is maybe the deepest funk Darkside’s ever cultivated. It kicks open with a bassline you can feel deep in your gut, but fluidly transforms into the kind of sampladelic house jam Jaar more often includes on his Against All Logic albums, surfing on a baroque clavinet groove. Opener “Slau” is a bit subtler, steeped in spacious, dubby atmosphere, which Jaar punctures via a distorted bleat of vocals. And with a hypnotic bongo beat, “American References” escalates from a low-key and haunting vehicle for Jaar’s Spanish-sung lyrics into a kind of lush psychedelic techno.
Darkside’s sense of humor is given a more prominent platform on Nothing as well, particularly in the two-part “Hell suite.” Its first half beams in from a ’50s-style David Lynch radiator free-jazz purgatory by way of John Lennon, Jaar crooning, “imagine all the people living in hell, doesn’t take much,” whereas its second half smooths out the frenetic edges for something with a little more soul and a little more bounce. Both sound like the work of a band that’s having the time of their lives, reflecting a statement they made years ago that Darkside is a “jam band.” Nothing finds Darkside embracing that live physicality to a greater degree, grooving their way down a trail of broken glass.
Label: Matador
Year: 2025
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Darkside : Nothing
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