Versatile and Surreal: Django Django’s Marble Skies // Review "The album has the feel of a fever dream that you never want to snap out of and it’s rare to find a progressive sound that feels so unique."

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Pop rhythms, space age contemporary synths and an existential undertone are the features of Django Django’s newest album, Marble Skies. The album has the feel of a fever dream that you never want to snap out of and it’s rare to find a progressive sound that feels so unique. The colourful album artwork draws your eye in and introduces you to a record that can fit any mood.

The opening of Marble Skies sets the scene of the album. It makes you crave the next track just as the last has finished and feels like you’ve entered an idyllic video game with you as the main player. The quest that the Scottish band brings you on journey down the Seine with Champagne. If you want to forget about your draughty student accommodation or the miserable weather of winter then this is the ultimate ‘pick me up’ song. You can imagine the sun on your back and a drink in your hand; the evening ahead feeling endless. It’s an escapist track and acts as the hopeful hook of Marble Skies.

The tone shifts as the songs become more lyric based. With songs such as ‘Further’ and ‘Sundials’, Django Django question life and it’s monotony. You would almost miss this aspect of the album because of their upbeat rhythms. Although it contrasts with the drunken happiness of ‘Champagne’, it feels like the only natural progression; leaving behind the night before and trying to navigate life afterwards. The instrumentals deliver with layered guitars that draw you into the psychedelic fantasy of the album.

The hypnotic bass and deep piano really shine in the second half with the star of the show being ‘Real Gone’. Although it comes towards the end of the record, it is well worth the wait. We move from floating on the Seine in ‘Champagne’ to floating in space with ‘Real Gone’, which features in the more developed half of the record and shows us what Django Django are made of. The build-up is perfection with pounding beats that seem to heighten the hype around this crescendo. The theme of existentialism continues but then the resonating chords of the piano hit, making this track the highlight of the album.

Django Django create their own rabbit hole down into their world of drifting down rivers drunkenly and navigating monotonous, boring reality. It’s album that feels timeless and will remain so for years to come.

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