Double-albums are a double-edged sword. For every brilliant The Wall, there’s prog-rock indulgent excess (the concept is very seventies, for likewise better or worse). Physical media no longer being paramount means that artists have more of an opportunity to make double-records, but that’s another double-edged sword: no label restricting their vision, but also no one telling them that some songs are only b-sides at best. It does let artists go the double route earlier in their career, such as Django Django with Off Planet.
Not so much two LPs as four EPs (still totaling 21 songs and 80 minutes), apparently a concept release with each EP based around a planet, Off Planet might not be epic greatness, but also certainly isn’t epic overdone. The band’s electronic dance, which has been balanced between the indie-sphere and the club for their whole history, stays on that edge. Yes, they can go full EDM banger with “Slipstream”, but also bring soul-dance up-hope with Jack Peñate on “No Time”. Of course, there are guest stars (another hallmark of the double-album), perhaps most notably the grime rap of Refound* on “Hands High”.
But this is an electro-dance record, from start-to-finish, even if there’s a great deal of distance between those two. Django Django likely could have pared down Off Planet into a regular full-length, or at least split it up into two or four separate releases (something else we’ve seen a lot more of in the digital age), but nothing feels out of place or excessive. Just another accomplished record by an increasingly accomplished band.
