In Review: Django Django - 'Spirals'

It’s been a long two years since 2018’s well-received Marble Skies was released. On this release, Django Django combined psychedelia with Krautrock and dance music to produce an ambitious record that felt fresh and much more rounded than their previous release Born Under Saturn. Now, the London five-piece are back again with new single ‘Spirals’, a psychedelic “glimpse of what’s to come”. But how does it hold up?

Signature, trip-inducing vibes open the track, as keys lead the way in an opening crescendo that sees the synth, bass and drums join for a long build into a fuzzy, bass-led proclamation that Django Django are back. There’s a swagger to their step as the band confidently hypnotises with their art-rock stylings. At first listen, there isn’t much that says the band have broken any new ground in their approach to music, but they don’t necessarily have to at this point. Sometimes releasing a song that does exactly what you’re great at is the best approach, and that’s the approach the group have taken.

The bass is the highlight of the song. An echoey, fuzzy and funky bassline anchors the song as kaleidoscopic animations roll on in the official video. The band have stated this song was written with live performance in mind, and it’s clear to see how. The bass and drums pound to the point you can almost feel the vibrations through the floor, as if you were watching the outfit play live in a basement venue on a Saturday night. Meanwhile, frontman Vincent Neff sings of trips and psychedelia with a breezy and laid-back cadence. It, along with the accompanying music video and lends a certain circularity to the song, which with a title like ‘Spirals’ was most likely the point.

Django Django have definitely achieved what they set out to with the release of ‘Spirals’. They’re preaching to their faithful choir, providing a slice of trippy electro-rock that proudly announces the band are back, offering a fittingly hypnotising preview of the presumed full-length release yet to come.

To hear more from Django Django, click here.