Off Planet (Vinyl 2LP, White)

This is what happens when worlds align. Off Planet was originally conceptualised by Django Django co founder and powerhouse Dave Maclean, buzzing on ufology as “a way to go beyond”, to bring new voices, new rhythms, new experimentation into play. Released in four separate parts, the plan was to treat each as a separate “planet” and effectively to deconstruct the band’s identity. It was an anarchistic approach that could have ended in chaos. And, well, it has certainly pushed the envelope in all directions: it’s the biggest, boldest, and most varied statement they have made, with a cavalcade of extra voices – Self Esteem, Jack Peñate, Stealing Sheep, Toya Delazy and many more, all of them either friends of the band or personally sought out by Dave – bringing entirely new creative angles into play. From bluesy pop and Middle Eastern cabaret goth to Afro acid and piano rave, to call it kaleidoscopic is putting it mildly.

However, in the process of making it they discovered that there’s a natural gravity to Django Django, something about their way of working and way of being as people, that brought those planets into alignment. What started as a harum-scarum creative process gradually coalesced – even the parts that don’t sound like anything on previous records – into something recognisably “them”, and ultimately into something that is recognisably an album as such, and a great one at that. It remains fully functional as four separate “planets”, but the full rocket ride around them all is, incredibly, an even more coherent and enjoyable experience. Partly it was probably down to the thrill of coming back together after a long period apart – but in large part, it was just how Django Django ARE: it was a microcosm, in fact, of the way they formed.

Tracklisting:

1. Wishbone
2. Complete Me feat. Self Esteem
3. Osaka
4. Hands High feat. Refound
5. Lunar Vibrations feat. Isabelle Woodhouse
6. Don't Touch That Dial feat. Yuuko
7. Back 2 Back feat. Patience
8. Squid Inc. 
9. Come Down
10. Golden Cross
11. No Time feat. Jack Peñate
12. A New Way Through
13. Galaxy Mood feat. Toya Delazy
14. The Oh Zone
15. Dead Machine feat. Stealing Sheep
16. Dumdrum
17. Fluxus
18. Slipstream
19. Who You Know feat. Bernardo
20. Black Cadillac
21. Gazelle