News from Nowhere, Warp ****

You could call this Darkstar's country album. Flush with cash from a new recording deal with Warp, but not flush enough to remain living and working in London, the band plumped for a new base in Slaithwaite in deepest west Yorkshire. What their mining exploits in that village has produced is an album full of rich, warm, evoca- tive sounds, reflecting a band moving even further away from the dubstep and bass sounds that were their crutches a few years ago. News from Nowhere contains escoteric and eclectic DNA, from George Harrison to Brian Eno and Animal Collective, but it's the freewheeling nature of the trio's electronic craftwork and robust songsmithery that really dominate. From the mesmerising span of A Day's Pay for a Day's Work to the lush mantras of Timeaway, here's proof of Darkstar's newfound galaxy. darkstar.ws

Download: A Day's Pay for a Day's Work, Timeaway, Amplified Ease