DARKSIDE Release New Album Nothing

Out now via Matador Records, Nothing is the third album by DARKSIDE and the first that the group – founded by Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington – have completed as a trio with new drummer Tlacael Esparza.

Nothing is nine transmissions of negative space, telepathic seance, and spectral improvisation.

On their first two reinventions, Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington entered the studio with a clutch of scattered ideas and loose melodic fragments to mould into what became the revered Psychic (2013) and Spiral (2021). But Nothing reflected a search for form borne out of spontaneous elliptical jams, acoustic riffing, and digital levitations. And in a fundamental shift from their first dozen years as a band, Jaar and Harrington recruited their longtime friend and collaborator, the drummer and instrument designer Tlacael Esparza, to become a full-time member.

Understanding this evolution requires retelling the journey. Jaar and Harrington originally met at school in Providence. While on tour in support of Jaar’s debut album, an off-day off-hand recording session in a Berlin hotel room caused their speakers to blow. The room filled with smoke and the song divined that day became their first single 'A1.'

Shortly after, DARKSIDE announced what would become a six-year hiatus. In the interim, Jaar released a string of acclaimed solo albums under his own name and his dance-oriented Against All Logic alias. The Chilean artist left his adopted home base of New York for a more nomadic existence overseas. He scored film soundtracks, produced for FKA Twigs, and taught sound-editing and listening workshops throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.

Indicative of his roots in the New York avant-jazz scene, Harrington pursued a similarly left-hand path. An intuitive player somewhere between John McLaughlin and Jerry Garcia, the guitarist and multi-instrumentalist moved to the West Coast and immediately became a linchpin of the L.A underground. He’s become one of the most prolific and imaginative experimentalists of his generation, leading his own group, playing in various other ensembles, and co-founding America’s new last great rock band, Taper’s Choice (a jam outfit formed with members of Real Estate and Vampire Weekend).

In the fall of 2022, DARKSIDE booked a series of shows in Los Angeles to reintroduce themselves as a live entity for the first time in eight years. To prep for their return, DARKSIDE rented a storefront in northeast Los Angeles. Esparza joined as a full-time member, fundamentally changing the sound and spirit of the band. Throughout the summer of ’22, the new trio built itself from scratch. At The Spiral House, they deciphered their new identity and vocabulary.

One central touchstone, the “Nothing Jam” emerged from these impromptu sessions. This concept initially came out of the constant search for mindfulness, but also through Harrington’s moments in the morning with his newborn daughter, where he found a deep beauty in just sitting with her on the floor doing nothing.

For Jaar, this concept of nothing became applicable to other aspects of life. "Nothing" is the reflexive answer when asked about what’s wrong, when there’s too much to even begin to express. Or “nothing” can be a damning illustration of the lack of change in the world. The sense of absence in the “Nothing Jam” could paradoxically become a generative space for creation.

Nothing begins with 'Slau,' an atmospheric canvas of bass-heavy dub juxtaposed with slashing electro-clash vocals. The title of the finale, the sun-damaged and cosmically fuzzy 'Sin El Sol No Hay Nada,' harkens back to the original spirit of creation. The genesis of life itself. And in the music, there is the unstinting sense of excitement and open-endedness – where there are no answers, merely generosity of spirit and the desire to break free from the enclosed feedback loop. It’s truly something.

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