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Rating: Shoegaze-Disco? New Power-Pop? Post-Post-New Wave? Electro-Rock’n’Roll? It would be interesting to conduct a poll to find the definition that best fits the sound of the new album by Delays, four young English lads, endowed with undisputed talent and little geniuses of the new 'pop' revolution from across the Channel.
“You See Colours”, starting from the amazing cover (very New Order-esque, but also similar to some productions by 23 Envelope, creators of the artwork for 4AD), marks the consecration of the band, after a raw “Faded Seaside Glamour” that took the four on tour throughout Europe for a year in 2004, alongside the more fortunate Keane.
Eleven pop songs, anything but conventional, form the backbone of the work, where Greg Gilbert's falsetto voice (very reminiscent of Scott Miller's vocal tone of the fondly remembered Game Theory, a very popular American band in late '80s College Radios), weaves its patterns over multicolored guitar arpeggios and electronic rhythms almost akin to 80s techno-disco.
The opening of “You And Me” might be deceiving. A folk whisper almost like Nick Drake and then a breathtaking rhythmic attack with beautiful guitars that climb and unravel along the song's highly melodic structure, growing ever more intense towards the end. It continues with “Valentine”… a "Pro-gen" style attack reminiscent of the Shamen and a celestial singing as if the Cocteau Twins met with Giorgio Moroder in Ibiza for an unlikely jam-session… and then an abundance of shoegazing guitars at will with an incredible melodic opening for one of the most infectious songs of 2006.
And then: “This Town’s Religion”, psychedelic electro-rock, very Game Theory melody, with 80s new wave influences; “Sink Like A Stone”, “Hideaway” and “Winter’s Memory Of Summer”, celestial shoegazing rides among Lush, Pale Saints, and why not?... Stone Roses; “Too Much In Your Life”, rollingstonian and suspended between reality and nocturnal psychedelic suggestions; “Given Time” a beautiful evanescent ballad between pop and wave with a refrain close to the most intense works of the Lotus Eaters (another historic cult band that emerged in the mid-80s that brought back the guitar sound of the new wave era); “Lillian” where Iggy Pop seems to have smoothed out certain rough edges and discovered Nick Drake; “Out Of Nowhere”, psychedelic pop, Byrds-like to the core and close to Primal Scream of “Sonic Flower Groove”; finally, “Waste Of Space”, a delicate and crepuscular ballad with slightly Radiohead-esque melancholic tones for a more than fitting conclusion.
The conclusion must be: full marks to Delays and their global kaleidoscope of sounds.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Valentine (04:52)
I can see a hurricane tonight,
It keeps from my valentine,
This voodoo's doing me harm,
Ooh, ooh, raise the alarm,
Maybe, this is the moment to pray dear,
But I'd rather lay by your side,
Cos' millions are fighting their way here
New Orleans'll tremble tonight,
With bleeding hearts and swaying lights,
A very modern machine,
Ooh, ooh, is coming for me,
Maybe, this is the moment to say dear,
I thought I'd have you by now,
But sentiment got in the way dear,
Oh, oh, oh, tell me,
When did the water surround me?
But tell me, is that love in your eyes?
I can see a hurricane tonight,
It keeps me from my valentine,
A very modern machine,
Is coming for me
Tell me,
When did the water surround me?
But tell me, is that love in your eyes?
Oh, oh, oh, tell me,
When did the water surround me?
And tell me, is that, is that love?
Just tell me the truth it makes me feel better,
Love in your eyes, it makes me feel better.
03 This Town's Religion (03:08)
This towns’, this towns’ religion,
I don’t get it; I just don’t get it,
Shoot first, think last, forgive me,
I don’t get it, but somehow I’m still right here,
And this is the world we made, too late to start again,
But at least I know where I belong…
This town, this towns’ religion,
I don’t get it; I just don’t get it,
Drink more, talk less, so guilty,
I don’t get it, but somehow I’m still right here,
And this is the world we made, too late to start again,
But at least I know where I belong, the face don’t fit but we can run,
“Whatever must you think of me, Simone? Not offerin’ to guide you safely home?
The stolen cars that tear the field apart, they’re bearing down on us, we must depart”,
The lovers in the photograph have gone; the lovers in the photograph have flown,
Because no lover could believe in, this town, this town’s religion,
And this is the world we made, strung out on street parades,
But at least I know where I belong, the face don’t fit so we should run,
04 Sink Like a Stone (03:05)
Sink like a stone, into the deep that's where we'll go,
Tides turning home; season came down, down comes the cold,
But oh no, hey, where did you go?
Oh no, I'm calling,
Don't let your heart break; this is your finest hour,
Don't let your heart break; it makes me feel like dying so I,
Sink like a stone (on my heels) and into the green, letting love go,
But oh no, hey, where did you go?
Oh no, I'm calling,
Don't let your heart break; this is your finest hour,
Don't let your heart break; it makes me feel like dying so I
Don't let your heart break; this is your finest hour,
Don't let your heart break; it makes me feel like dying so I
06 Winter's Memory of Summer (03:10)
Faster, Sarah lets run,
From disaster, Sarah come on,
And take your heart from your sleeve,
Leave behind the bruising strings,
That made him old before you could get hold,
(And) now winters memory of summer is cold I say,
Faster, Sarah lets run,
From disaster, Sarah come on,
And take your heart from your sleeve,
It’s a lock to a thief,
Now here we are with the scars on your arm,
But I ask you, I ask you,
Don’t you think that we’ve found L.O.V.E.?
So don’t lose it for me, we’ve got L.O.V.E.?
No, don’t lose it,
And take your heart from your sleeve,
Leave behind the failing trees,
That crowd you so, turned the neighbourhood gold,
Until winters memory of summer was cold,
Believe me, believe me,
We’ll run again, run again, run again,
Night, all night, all night,
Oh I can hardly wait until we get there…
Beneath the morning sun a crowd is forming,
No I can hardly wait until we get there…
And see my favourite face awake in summer,
08 Hideaway (03:48)
No I don't think it's a good thing,
Without a second thought you put your hand on my shoulder,
Without a second look you took me miles away,
What happened after that, I couldn't see and I lost you?
And I stumbled around until I found you again,
Cos' you are my only hideaway, you make the world seem bigger,
You are my only hideaway, you do,
Without a second thought you found the words to explain me,
Without a second look you tried to open my mind,
Well I know that you are waiting and your patience is failing,
But I know that I'll get there in a matter of time,
Cos' you are my only hideaway, you make the world seem bigger,
Oh you are my only hideaway, you do,
And so tonight we'll set the motion right,
And so tonight, we've time to make it alright.
09 Lillian (03:01)
She is deafeningly pretty, echoes are everywhere,
So I drink to gain her pity, but she don't care,
I love you Lilly but you're never alone,
Never alone,
In my dreams I fail to see why you cannot come home with me (I),
Way lay, scheme and play,
Oh, I could touch you, but you'd shimmy away,
I love you Lilly but you're never alone,
I love you Lilly but you're never alone
I love you Lilly but you're never alone
I love you Lilly but you're never alone
Anyway, any day, anyway, what if I wait forever?
(Cos') In my dreams we make a scene to end all scenes with lust supreme (but),
Way lay, scheme and play,
(It's) traces of you that trouble my view tonight,
I love you Lilly but you're never alone,
I love you Lilly but you're never alone.
10 Out of Nowhere (02:46)
You came into frame out of nowhere
Pulled me through the trees to the river
Now I'm living each day like I'm living the last
And we could make it upstream if it wasn't so fast
Coz you're out of sight, out of nowhere
The evidence points to a matter of choice
C'mon pick me, pick me, for the flight
Out of nowhere tonight, tonight
I found more than anything that to give into love was a way to begin,
Bowing down to literature
I'm living each day like I'm living the last
And we could make it upstream if it wasn't so fast
Coz you're out of sight, out of nowhere
The evidence points to a matter of choice
C'mon and pick me, pick me, for the flight
Out of Nowhere tonight, tonight, tonight.
11 Waste of Space (03:56)
Like a millionaire, but with nothing to spare,
All this time on my hands doesn't go anywhere,
(But) before you think to cry, I know that
It's not right, that your there, with your love, going spare,
You're like a waste of space in an empty room,
Just hoping, somebody gets to you soon,
(The way you) run around is not so clever,
I warn you, honey I love you,
With a heart full of song, I will drive you away,
This I've known all along but I don't think I'd blame,
You for passing on
('Cos) It's not right, that you care so much more, than I care,
I'm just a waste of space, and I rarely move,
Here's hoping, somebody gets to me soon,
The way you run around is not so clever,
I warn you honey, I love you
Centre stage is yours to take,
If you can lose this waste of space.
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