I remember seeing Dark Dark Horse in Leicester a few years back when they supported The Twilight Sad at Firebug, a venue / bar deep in the heart of Leicester's music scene. That was five and a half years ago, and along came an album review a few months later of their debut album Centuries. There’s nothing special about the review, it's just interesting to note how much I've actually changed (aged and balded basically) since 2011/2012. Likewise Dark Dark Horse adding interesting elements to their otherwise simplistic electronic sound.
The duo are back after quite some time with their follow up EP Luna II, to be released on the independent Little Fanfare - quite some difference to the Japanese release of Centuries all those hair fulfilled years ago. On initial listening I pick up on two things; it's distant from the smooth sounding Centuries, and that "Into the Night" has a Far East ring to it, otherwise known as the Gold Panda sound. This is no "Quitter's Raga", which I once used seven seconds of to end terrible video reviews. It's more of a slow tempo alternative rock Empire of the Sun, evoking the deep sounds of the genres sadder, pessimistic, and unapologetically Northern - The Twilight Sad, Glasvegas post-debut, British Sea Power post-Do You Like Rock Music?... you get the picture. It's a very atmospheric and mood driven song, and what I mean by mood driven is that, well, you need to really be in the mood for uplifting raga and sad bass driven synths. Dark Dark Horse do seem to find the middle ground between the two, I remember them performing songs from Centuries incredibly well at Firebug, and look forward to hearing how they shape these new songs on Luna II live.
~Eddie Gibson
