“This video represents all the places past and present that are instrumental in why we got to do this.”

Darkstar have shared a moving tribute to venues past and present to accompany their track ‘Blurred’, a highlight from their recent album Civic Jams.

Compiling Google Earth footage of music institutions across the UK, the Warp duo reflect on the ongoing loss of public space and cultural venues, a loss only exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19.

“This video represents all the places past and present that are instrumental in why we got to do this”, they explain. “I think I’ve been going to nightclubs since I was 16, buying records from 15 and tape packs from 14 all housed and cultivated in places either in this video or not too far.”

“It’s a stark reminder at how hard it can be to keep these places going particularly now – so massive props to the people involved in working to keep that dream alive. It can’t be ignored to see just how many of these places fell. It’s hard not to correlate that to the political landscape and how the value of independent music is weighed up by these people even before a pandemic.”

You can show your support to grassroots music venues in the UK which are at imminent risk of being closed permanently by supporting the Save Our Venues campaign.

‘Blurred’ is taken from Civic Jams, which is out now.

Watch next: RGBdog (Soyun Park) fragments the daily life of Princess Camel in I.F.O.M.