At the intersection of music and history, Devin Knight uses his current project Maneka to address questions about racism in America. His new LP ”Dark Matters”, out this week on Skeletal Lightning, was inspired by binge watching documentaries on dark matter in space. Knight draws a correlation between the history of race issues in America and the scientific concept. In his own words:
With dark matter, it’s there but it’s not. Just like our history with race; a lot of people are aware of its existence, but you can’t touch it. You can’t smell it. But it’s among us. America has this really dark energy. How has it been this fucked up for this long and no one’s done anything about it?
As a black man creating music in a genre where he isn’t widely represented, Knight continues to establish his brand and unique sound within the space. He continues:
I wanted to introduce the idea of indie rock fused with gaudy bejeweled blackness. We’re not ashamed of our success, we’re flaunting it.
Effortlessly mixing shoegazey indie rock with somber alt. hip hop, Knight builds the foundation for the album on these central concepts. Through Maneka, he thoughtfully explores the fringes of identity, writing songs that resiliently navigate the anxiety of being a minority in largely white spaces and offering solidarity to outsiders everywhere in firm defiance against a regressive status quo.
Check out the video from the album’s lead single, “Winner’s Circle”:
