If ever an electronic album was to capture the state of the nation then this could well be it – and the triumph at work in ‘Foam Island’ is that Darkstar have done it ever so subtly. Their elegiac and quite softly voiced electronic instrumentals become strangely moving when they are married with everyday soundbites that detail the trials and tribulations – and occasionally the rewards – of everyday life. This proves pretty dark at times, but there is a largely positive thread running through the record. ‘Stoke The Fire’ has what sounds like clouds swirling around what is essentially quite a jaunty track, but ‘Cuts’ pulls no punches with its standout soundbite “the cuts are hitting us hard”, set to an attractive Steve Reich-based loop. ‘Foam Island’ proves to be a quiet but devastatingly effective form of protest album, whose beauty is often at odds with the reality of life and austerity in present day Britain.
