EXCLUSIVE: Django Django Share Their Studio Diary On The Making Of 'Glowing In The Dark'

Glowing In The Dark was made here, in our studio, in Tottenham, London. We've been lucky enough to have a place of our own since the release of our debut album, and we're so used to having somewhere now it's crazy to think how we managed without one. The space itself isn't massive (it was 20% larger before we plastered the walls with soundproofing insulation) and when you take into consideration Dave's records, our piano, cabinet organ, drum kit and all the daft synths and drum machines we have kicking about, it's a wonder we can squeeze in.

The photos you see here were taken during filming a wee session that we put online at the start of this album campaign. I've sort of painted myself into a corner with synths in photo #1. To my left you can see some bits of my new synthesiser rack which I've been working on with our technician. I've been trying to condense my synth rig down to lower the cost of freight and flights on tour; unfortunately, this still seems a wee ways off...

Here's Vinny standing in front of shelves that include, among other things, an old electric pump organ and some homemade papier mâché maracas. Vinny's vocals have a real sense of confidence and purpose to them on this new album. It's been cool to see how they've developed over the years. Whereas in the past we had a fairly uniform approach to our vocals, there is now real variety and both Vinny and Dave are aware of when and how to strip things back to contrast with a layered harmony sound we've come known for.

We have Jim on bass and backing vocals, but you'll also see him switch to guitar on this album in places. If you hear any intricate fingerpicking then it's usually Jim's playing. He also switches to singing lead on a couple tracks in The World Will Turn and Kick The Devil Out. It's nice to be able to freshen things up by switching things around like this - sometimes when things aren't working or a session feels flat we'll swap instruments or roles and this can often help unlock a song. Having Charlotte Gainsbourg come in to do a guest vocal on Waking Up is a good example of this, and really lifted the song up a few notches. We're blessed to have her on the record.

We've got Dave on drums sitting in front of the previously mentioned wall of sound. He's quite a reluctant drummer to be honest and is more comfortable running the show from the producer's spinny chair, but early on he realised someone had to do it and by now he's really become a great drummer. Dave definitely stepped up in general on Glowing In The Dark and knows now how to get the most out of us as players and writers. He's also writing more himself - that's his synths on the title track and The Ark is very much a journey of his own making.

One for the synth nerds, this time a SH101 (the very first thing that you hear on the album), a Jen SX1000 (Dave's first synth and still a regular Django workhorse - that's it you hear being put through the wringer in the opening seconds of Default) and also a Novation Bass Station which is pretty new in the studio.

Gonna leave you with one last shot of Vinny and some more guitars. Hope you have enjoyed this tour of our studio. We truly hope we get the opportunity soon to come to Australia and play some of these new songs out for you.

Django Django's Glowing In The Dark is out now. Check it out here.