As slippery to categorise as ever, Django Django’s fourth album is another masterclass in blurring genre boundaries in an unobtrusive but highly effective fashion. Once again, indie song structures are subtly enhanced with clever, deceptive rhythms, propulsive krautrock momentum and splashes of synths. And while the songs on Glowing in the Dark might be less immediate than those on 2018’s Marble Skies (particularly that record’s thrilling title track), the hooks are still there – they just take a few more listens to sink in.
The excellent Headrush is a case in point, a sinuous intro underpinned by a mighty, Peter Hook-like bassline gives way to an unassuming verse that gradually picks up urgency but is no less powerful for never quite evolving into a chorus as such. Waking Up, with a breathy guest vocal from Charlotte Gainsbourg, glides past silkily. The World Will Turn, meanwhile, with its echoes of Nick Drake, finds them embracing more simple pleasures. Not everything comes off: the pedestrian Kick the Devil Out conjures up memories of the less remarkable end of the Madchester spectrum; and while the instrumental The Ark doesn’t lack for ideas, it does underwhelm.
