The indie new wave revival continues! Delphic is the latest in the line, heralding from Manchester, England. Their contribution to this genre's ongoing development is a stronger emphasis on infusing dance into rock. On Acolyte, their debut, It's a trick that delivers some great songs, but also some that overstay their welcome.
The opening of the album is particularly strong. "Clarion Call" reminds me a lot of the sound The Killers developed on their 2004 debut--big upbeat rock sounds drenched in synths. "Doubt" shows more original personality, adding quite a bit of electronic enhancement to the synth melodies and dance beats, along with an electric guitar to remind you of its rock basis. "This Momentary" opens with a dark, rich sound, with instrumentation gradually added to create an expected build-up, which the eventual dance beat delivers. This is more '90s-dance than '80s dance though, pushing them beyond just new wave to house.
A couple of really long tracks follow. "Red Lights" has a nice, milder dance feel, but lacks much complexity for a 6-minute song. Probably fine for playing at a party, but just listening to it on headphones, I lose interest after a while. "Acolyte" has an ambient opening with some slow guitar strumming before it kicks into dance mode. At nearly 9 minutes, it's really long, and mostly instrumental. This track I don't mind as much, as it's got more kick than "Red Lights."
"Halcyon" returns the album to more traditional song territory. It's got a particularly strong chorus amidst its dark, layered melodies of guitar and driving dance beats. Back to '80s synth pop territory with "Submission," one of the album's slower songs, with a rueful lyrical delivery akin to Pet Shop Boys. Aptly named "Counterpoint" injects a bit of optimism into the mostly dark feel of the album.
Delphic have an interesting sound, but I don't love this album. Not enough songs are standouts for me. I'm surprised they're getting as much "big new thing for 2010" buzz as they are, although I think "Doubt" in particular is a good track and should have been a bigger hit (it didn't even make the UK top 75 singles chart).
Best: Doubt, Clarion Call, This Momentary, Halcyon
4 comments:
I get your point, however I really like this album especially after iTunes gave me that free download of "TM."
My faves moment are Counterpoint, This Momentary and Clarion Call. I don't know why, but I think Doubt have "too much going on at one time" and "lack in direction", it's all good though, maybe I will grow into it soon.
BTW have you checked out Miike Snow?
Free is a very good price. I have one Miike Snow single, "Black and Blue," but I haven't heard anything else from him. What's he like?
Miike Snow is actually a 3 man band :) Two of them is actually Bloodshy & Avant of the Toxic song fame.
Well, they're kinda like.. a healthy combination of a pop version of Phoenix, a less rock influenced The XX, a more pop version of Grizzly Bear and less noisy version of Animal Collective. Whatdya think? LOL.
Do check out "Animal", "Sylvia", "Song For No One" (my personal faves) and "Burial".
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