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]
Release
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]
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]
