Darkstar will release their debut album, North, on October 18 via Hyperdub.

As previously known, the original Darkstar duo – James Young and Aiden Whalley – have expanded into a three-piece for North, with James Buttery taking on vocal duty. The album features ten tracks, one of which was already released (2009 single ‘Aidy’s Girl is a Computer’), as well as a track called ‘Squeeze’ (at least that’s what it’s called on our copy – XLR8R have the song down as ‘When It’s Gone’), which is a vocal track based around the same riff as past single ‘Squeeze my Lime’.

As Darkstar hinted in last year’s FACT interview, ‘Aidy’s Girl’ is the most dancefloor-friendly track here – the rest of North features modern classical, melancholy computer pop and spacious indie, calling to mind Sven Weisemann, Air, the xx, Radiohead and more. If that puts you off then you’re probably being a snob – on first listen, North is an excellent album that looks beyond the crying circuitry of past Darkstar singles, but remains very much an extension of their vision, with the knack for melody we’ve come to expect from them.

‘Gold’, track two on the album, is a cover of the Human League, an early version of which was played on Gilles Peterson’s Radio 1 show what seems like a long time ago now. That track will be the next Darkstar single; a video was filmed today.

Tracklist:
01 In The Wings
02 Gold
03 Deadness
04 Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer
05 Under One Roof
06 2 Chords
07 North
08 Ostkreuz
09 Dear Heartbeat
10 Squeeze / When It’s Gone