Darlingside: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

May 4, 2018, Bob Boilen Even though the world will eventually come to an end, there s still beauty and hope in all of us and in song. That about sums up the wistful mystery that is the music of Darlingside. The quartet brought dystopian storytelling wrapped in choral harmony with this performance at the Tiny Desk. Their singing is layered on a bed of percussive and melodic tones, made with guitars both acoustic and electric, violin, cello, mandolin and a tiny synthesizer. For all its upfront simplicity, in voice and acoustics, Darlingside s Tiny Desk Concert has stuck with me as a most compelling performance a perfect match of songwriting, with contributions from all members. The first song they performed comes from the band s 2015 debut album Birds Say. The God of Loss was inspired by the Arundhati Roy book The God of Small Things, and by the main character s attempts to preserve humanity in the face of competing forces. The other two songs Darlingside performed are from Extralife, the Boston quarte