[7/10]
Django Django are back! Seemingly out of the blue, this experimental indie quartet dropped their new comeback single ‘First Light’ in January, and after over a year’s absence are set to play two intimate shows in Edinburgh and Leeds this week (depressingly far from Birmingham however). On first listen, ‘First Light’ feels a bit slow, and lacks some of the immediate impact of songs like ‘Default’, although there is an initially insistent beat which promises great things. While there are no hook-filled choruses or epic guitar breakdowns as in ‘WOR’, there is something very hypnotic about it, perhaps Vincent Neff’s achingly beautiful harmonies and cleverly rhyming lyrics. Thematically, the track seems to allude to people moving towards a greener way of living – although they are such an abstract band that it’s hard to be sure what any of their songs are truly about!
Their debut self-titled album was a breath of fresh air into a slightly fusty indie market back in 2012, fusing electronic sounds, African polyrhythms and incredible vocal harmonies into one of the best indie albums of the decade. They are on the verge of releasing their much-anticipated second album, and it has a huge amount of potential – the band themselves say it will be much slicker and more polished than their first, which was largely recorded in their bedrooms. And I for one will be first in line to buy it if it sounds as good as ‘First Light’.
