Out now, 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.
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.
Stream / download Nothing here.
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