Darkside Announces Hiatus and Release Two B-Sides

Darkside does things bittersweetly and releases two new songs alongside a statement announcing their last show.

After the successful LP Psychic that came out last year, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington of Darkside tweeted yesterday that the band is “coming to an end…for now.”

“DARKSIDE is coming to an end, for now. On September 12th, we will be playing our last show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple. Here are two songs that we made while working on “Psychic” that didn’t make the album. Thanks for listening and supporting us this year.”

It’s more than a little ironic that the first B-side off released with the break-up statement is called “Gone Too Soon.” The song kicks off with a playful, soulful beat and a deep male vocal that’s rather like a lovechild of Daft Punk and classic rock. It only gets more interesting from there, with the band’s signature use of numerous sounds. “Gone Too Soon” floats in and out of being soulful, being guitar-heavy, being lofty and echo-y. It sounds like dreaming in black and white. Take a listen and see for yourself.

The second B-side is a song called “What They Say” that starts off on a much more electro note, with a pitter-pattering melody that is soon substantiated by a fuller, lower sound. It’s a rainy day melodic journey that adds guitar to the plucked out electronic notes, and keeps building and layering sound upon sound. It’s like a thousand-layer-cake at the peak of the first two minutes, and then it drops beautifully back to a slow, deep sound. There are unexpected elements in the second half, uses of sounds you’d expect to see in house/dance tracks that come across completely differently in this one. It’s a true testament to the originality that critics loved about Darkside.

Although the end has arrived, the band still has a tour to finish out. The remaining tour dates are listed below, but their final show in Brooklyn is already sold out.
Darkside 2014 Tour Dates
Aug 24: Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
Aug 27: Pula, Croatia – Dimensions Festival
Aug 29: Zurich, Switzerland – Zürich Openair
Aug 31: Izmir-Cesme, Turkey – Orange Date
Sept 2: Istanbul, Turkey – Orange Date
Sept 3: Kiev – Studio G13
Sept 4: Vilnius, Lithuania – Loftas Fest
Sept 5: Berlin, Germany – Berlin Festival
Sept 6: Isle of Wight, UK – Bestival
Sept 12: Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Masonic Temple (sold out)

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