Darkside @ La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, 21 Oct

From scoring movies like Pablo Larrain’s Ema, to co-producing for FKA Twigs, to releasing albums from everyone from William Basinski to Laurel Halo, American composer and creator Nicolas Jaar is an inveterate collaborator. Nowhere is this spirit of collaboration more prominent however than Darkside, his duo – now trio – with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington.

From their days at Brown University, through the tour in support of Jaar’s critically acclaimed debut solo album Space Is Only Noise and up to the present day, the pair have worked together at intertwining the spirits of jazz, prog and live instrumentation into electronic music. Now joined by percussionist Tlacael Esparza, they’re taking this latest iteration of Darkside on the road to share new versions of tracks from their pair of studio albums as well as some new explorations with an improvisatory bent to them.

With his leather jacket and Gibson SG, Harrington looks more like a member of AC/DC, especially next to Jaar’s Adidas track top, but regardless of the get up, it’s clear from the way the musicians and their instruments pack together onstage, that they're tightly in sync. 

Image: Darkside @ La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, 21 Oct by Laura Muraska-Ross

While it may have taken Jaar and Harrington almost a decade to follow up 2013’s Psychic, it seems likely that the successor to 2021’s Spiral will far sooner. Opening the show, Jaar croons a hypnotic refrain that sounds like 'it doesn’t take much' as Esparza moves from tinkling cymbals to thumping toms and Harrington’s guitar playing twists and turns with flashes of King Crimson’s prog and John McLaughlin’s jazzy leads. It’s a set that’s by turns hypnotic and danceable, often turning in unexpected ways as when Jaar intersperses brief blasts of squalling saxophone or opens out into four on the floor rhythms that morph into a kind-of organic, industrial techno.

It’s certainly a lot darker than Jaar’s day job, taking in everything from dark and dubby instrumentals to a late set track that has a dusty Latin rock feel. They seem to be enjoying the freedom of the live format too, stretching and transforming tracks like Paper Trails into immersive, extended jams.

More than an-hour-and-a-half into the show, Jaar finally addresses the audience, thanking the crowd for their presence and urging them not to forget the genocide of Palestinians and Lebanese. Whispering, the trio put their heads together to discuss a final improvisation, built around a gentle bass pulse and what sounds like the looped sound of someone exhaling, before finally ending on a floor stomping version of A1, the first song recorded by Darkside, more than 13 years ago.