Delphic - Collections
- By Ismail Mulla -
- Feb 01, 2013
The year 2009 saw three boys from Manchester bleep onto the music radar. Slowly, as the year progressed, there was an exciting glimpse into a prominent future for indie inspired electronica.
This promise was duly fulfilled when Delphic dropped their debut album in the early, murky month of January. Aptly titled 'Acolyte' the trio followed closely, but managed to avoid, treading the same path as fellow Mancunians New Order. They were a New Order for a new generation.
Acolyte’s greatest strength was its ability to walk the tightrope of avoiding a pastiche to yesteryear synthpop and not ending up as trundling guitar band of the noughties. Fast forward three years to January 2013 and the promising class of 2009/10 has all but dissipated. The Mac key stabbing Delphic though have been busy whirring away and are back with a second album, 'Collections'.
If you wanted or expected Delphic to pick up where they left off you were always going to be in for a dose of disappointment. The trio were adamant that they wouldn’t end up on a path of churning out the tried and tested, slamming any comparisons to Oasis.
Collections validates their claim of wanting to avoid stagnation. It is a melting pot of musical influences, an eclectic mix of vibes, beats and arrangements, even straddling into hip hop territory on the track ‘Changes’, which is then let down by overzealous production behind ‘Exotic.’
The anthemic nature of their debut album is sacrificed for a more precision based approach. But herein lies the problem with Collections, at times you see the presence of material that earned Delphic's debut sich critical acclaim but at other times the album meanders to dead ends. Acolyte was blood pumping, oxygenated euphoria that knew where it was going and knew how it wanted to get there.
The greatest strength of Collections is probably the fact that it shifts the boys away from the retro shadow of greats such as Kraftwerk, which has been cast on them. ‘Don’t Let The Dreamers Take You Away’ is a good example as they put the synthesisers to the back of the room in favour of a harmony of vocals.
The album is laboured, yes. But it also pulls a neat trick of showcasing broader strokes of a band that possess something special. Going back to the drawing board may not be such a bad thing for Delphic, quenching their thirst to constantly change and seek new pastures.
The trio are too smart and talented not to continue gracing the airwaves for years to come, after all, many great bands have struggled with their second outings before coming back with gusto.
6/10
By Ismail Mulla. Blogs at ismailmulla.wordpress and tweets at @ismailmulla
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