Spiral (Darkside album)

Following the critically-successful Psychic in 2014 and a tour that concluded at Brooklyn Masonic Temple during September of that same year,^[2] Darkside members Harrington and Jaar branched individual pursuits – Harrington focusing as composer for two albums made under Dave Harrington Group and Jaar pursuing two collections as Against All Logic and five solo releases.^[3][4]

Reconvening, the album was written and recorded in 2018, with six of the songs largely made through an extended week-long session during the summer in Flemington, NJ.^[3][4][5] It would take another year and half for the entire album to coalesce completely.^[2][5]

Harrington discussed the idiosyncratic interactions that take place when the two converge together, stating "it felt like it was time; we do things in this band that we would never do on our own".^[5] Agreeing, Jaar explained the gravitation that they had shared toward the collaborative project: "we couldn't wait to jam together again".^[5]

In December 2020, Darkside announced their second album would be released in the spring of 2021.^[2][6][7] At that time, they also released the song "Liberty Bell", which was their first studio release since 2014, breaking a six-year hiatus.^[2][6][7]

The album was ultimately pushed back to July 23, 2021, and Matador published another song "The Limit" in April 2021.^[5][8] In June, a third song "Lawmaker" was released.^[5][9]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.7/10[10]
Metacritic	79/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Exclaim!	9/10[13]
The Line of Best Fit	7/10[14]
Loud and Quiet	8/10[15]
NME	[16]
Paste	8.2/10[17]
Pitchfork	6.8/10[18]
PopMatters	6/10[19]
The Skinny	[20]
Slant Magazine	[21]

Upon its release, Spiral received generally favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 79, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".^[11]