Kevin Bronson on February 17th, 2016

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“The lonesome life’s my game,” the apparitions sing in the new Xu Xu Fang song “I Crave,” and that life is one that the Los Angeles darkgazers, the brainchild of producer-songwriter Bobby Tamkin, seem to play well. The icy song, which features Michael Shuman of Queens of the Stone Age/Mini Mansions adding bass and some haunting dueting, is emblematic of the ambient textures Xu Xu Fang has been forging since their first EP in 2008. It will appear on the album “Daylong Secret” (out March 4) — perhaps the longest-incubating debut in recent memory. After all, its release seemed imminent in 2014, when the band released the brooding jam “Noir State Beach.” Besides their two EPs, Xu Xu Fang has gained some notoriety with a host of television synchs and distinctive covers of David Bowie’s “China Girl” and the Cure’s “Fascination Street.” But the album, finally: Tamkin, who directed the video for “I Crave,” produced it, with mixes contributed by Alain Johannes (QOTSA, Arctic Monkeys) and Dave Trumfio (Sia, Wilco). No word on who manned the studio smoke machine.

||| Watch: The video for “I Crave”