Surely among the most widely anticipated electronic albums of the year, Darkstar's debut long-player for high end dubstep label Hyperdub sees James Young, Aiden Whalley and vocalist James Buttery aiming far beyond the dancefloor. Like Burial before them, the duo extrapolate outwards from a distant genre template, stretching the bass music remit to incorporate hazy contemplation, ethereal moodiness and granular melancholy. But unlike Burial, this is unabashedly mature, artfully refined material that wraps itself up in layers of impressive, deeply evocative production.

Almost hymnal in its emotive charge, North conveys raw feelings not through abrasive dynamics and staccato pointillism, but through heartbusting swollen pads, crystalline melodies and an unending stream of lonely, plaintive vocals. Tracing a line from Massive Attack to Thom Yorke, and on to Boards of Canada and Junior Boys, the ghost of U.K. bass music flits intangibly around the edges all the while, forging a sound that's both cohesive and disparate, direct and detached. Acclaimed 2009 single "Aidys Girl Is a Computer" already hinted at the direction the duo would be taking, its gauzy speak and spell vocals, feather light chimes and mournfully rounded pads coming together as a kind of anthem for the introverted. The… read more »