Django Django have announced their fifth studio album ‘Off Planet’ and shared its lead single ‘Complete Me’ featuring Self Esteem – listen below.
Following on from 2021’s ‘Glowing In The Dark’, the London band’s forthcoming new record is set to be released in four parts – each representing a separate “planet”.
‘Off Planet Part 1’, which features five tracks, is out now. The full 21-song album will arrive on June 16 via Because Music – you can pre-order/pre-save it here.
First single ‘Complete Me’ is described as “an explosion of ’90s-inspired breakbeat”, and boasts vocals from Self Esteem (aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor) over clubby piano, synth strings and keys.
“The instrumental for ‘Complete Me’ was made sometime in 2020 or ’21 when the world was in lockdown and I was making music in my garden shed studio,” explained David Maclean in a statement.
“It was a dance track that I didn’t really know what to do with. I sent it to Rebecca and she loved the vibe of it and really quickly came up with some vocal ideas that kind of stuck straight away and locked well with the track.”
He continued: “The production was inspired by a lot of ’90s breakbeat house and hip-house records that I’ve always been really into and loved Djing with over the years.”
Taylor is a longtime associate of Django Django, having released her first EP on Maclean’s Kick + Clap label. She also appeared on the group’s 2018 LP ‘Marble Skies’ and has supported them on tour.
Completing ‘Off Planet Part 1’ are the tunes ‘Wishbone’, ‘Osaka’, ‘Hands High’ and ‘Lunar Vibrations’ – listen here via your desired streaming platform.
As for the album on the whole, the project began with Maclean making beats and many instrumental electronic tracks “very specifically to be not Django Django”. However, the ideas were later passed on to bandmates Jimmy Dixon Tommy Grace to write parts for.
Additionally, ‘Off Planet’ features guest spots from Jack Peñate, Stealing Sheep, Toya Delazy and more. The idea to bring onboard collaborators came about when Maclean imagined different voices singing over his more rave and hip-hop-inspired instrumentals.
Off Planet, the full album, will be out on 16th June.
Double LP, CD and merch now available to pre-order https://t.co/nWmz3vsA1Q pic.twitter.com/1Ldr20e5bT
— Django Django (@thedjangos) February 8, 2023
The record’s title, meanwhile, emerged from Maclean’s obsession with ufology: a term for hyper-advanced technologies kept secret from the populace.
“Just about everything we love, whether that’s old psychedelia or Detroit techno, has that futuristic or outer space feel, and I think we can’t help putting that into what we do,” he explained.
See the full tracklist for ‘Off Planet’ here:
‘Wishbone’
‘Complete Me’ ft. Self Esteem
‘Osaka’
‘Hands High’ ft Refound*
‘Lunar Vibrations’ ft Isabelle Woodhouse
‘Don’t Touch That Dial’ ft. Yuuko
‘Back To Back’ ft. Patience
‘Squid Inc ‘
‘Come Down’
‘Golden Cross’
‘No Time’ ft. Jack Penate
‘A New Way Through’
‘Galaxy Mood’ ft. Toya Delazy
‘The Oh Zone’
‘Dead Machine’ ft. Stealing Sheep
‘Dumb Drum’
‘Fluxus’
‘Slipstream”
‘Who You Know’ ft. Bernardo
‘Black Cadillac’
‘Gazelle ‘
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