As some of you might know by now, I like all sorts of music ranging from fast-paced dnb, to slow down tempo chillout.
Recently I came across a new band, and along with them, another genre.
Delphic
Delphic is a Rock/Alternative/Dance band composed of four UK dudes, accompanied by drummer Dan Hadley.
And damn, are they good.
For the past few weeks I've been waiting for Senior to be released by Röyksopp, but instead I got impatient, and had to use up my music voucher. So at the next opportunity I had, I bought 'Acolyte' - Delphic's latest album.
ACOLYTE
It was worth it too, because I feel great actually supporting them as artists, and getting all the album artwork, the physical cd and extra songs that just make legal music so much more rewarding.
Anyway, they're just amazing musicians, with their simple-yet-powerful vocals, great solos and electronic influences. I just love it all, they've achieved what some artists struggle to achieve.
Now, onto the songs:
Clarion Call
This starts of with a soft note playing from left to right, and in comes the soft vocals. The song progressively gets more up-beat and layered, which gives this song the 'depth' Delphic's songs have.
To be honest, this isn't my all time favourite, but it has its good parts for an intro, like the lyrics 'A call to arms! A call to arms! A call to everything you wanted, it's your life, it's your life, it's your life!'.
It's a little short, but a good example of their talent.
Doubt
By far, one of my favourites,
Doubt is an up-beat raw song with powerful vocals. It starts with a text-to-speech voice speaking the vowels, and after it layers up a little, and then the lead vocals begin. This song is great from start to finish, with a great theme throughout.
This Momentary
This Momentary is a beautiful, soft song, which I think is about relationships between friends or closer, for example:
We were mean, what was said wasn't ever meant to hurt, real stories always come off worse, can we make the time to leave it behind, in the shape we make our faith in what we...see how you feel so unsteady, and we're ready, and we each remember finding your feet, in a fine time take the time to find me, I'll be ready waiting, let's do something real...
As far as lyrics go, that's pretty meaningful so it depends on how you interpret it. Either way, the vocals are smooth and complement the medium tempo of the song.
Red Lights
This song takes just seconds to jump into a melancholy sounding song, both vocally and rhythmically. The lyrics seem amusing to me, because most drivers can relate, who'd want to stop for a red light?
'I wouldn't stop for red lights, I wouldn't even have to think twice'
This is a reasonable song, that's a tad repetitive lyric-wise, but altogether a great tune.
Acolyte
Acolyte is the most powerful, emotional and thrilling songs to listen to.
It starts off with quiet and minimal noises randomly changing and getting louder, all the while a beach-esque riff is playing, droning slowly. It fades to quiet...then out comes the bass and more rhythmic noises getting louder and 'advancing'. After more bursts of silence here and there, the bass guitar gets stronger, and as it does, the lead guitar sneaks up with, along with it some holy singing.
Then it thrusts you into a fast drum assault, with additional electronic beeps. The holy singing happens every now and then, though its indistinct.
I swear, I hear in the song:
Ahhh..hah..uhhh-hahh...This Acolyte..
But I know its not as simple as that. I love this song, so there's not really any criticism here.
Halcyon
I'm getting used to hearing
Halcyon by now, and I think I like it. It's catchy, the vocals are clear and its very chant-worthy if it were live.
Favourite lyric:
'If I'm wrong at least I know better!'
Submission
Initially, I only heard the demo of
Submission, until I bought the album, and it definitely is different. They've added an electronic glockenspiel of some sort at the start, but they've kept the drum beat.
The vocals of Submission are amazing, ranging from soft to loud, which makes
Submission all the better.
Counterpoint
Counterpoint is one of their debut songs on the album, with a repetitive background synth and catchy vocals. It's an alright song I guess. :)
Ephemera
This is a little 'Arabic-prayer-esque' with subtle changes from the quiet, and low vocals. Until it reaches a point where the vocals go from low to uplifting and angelic.
Remain
Remain is probably one of the most unique songs of the album, with piano, and a soft bass in the background. The vocals are different to the other songs, in that the vocalist raises the notes more (like Chris Martin, when his voice breaks when singing). I truly like this song, its beautiful.
That's it, all the songs off Acolyte.
My Rating:
Out of
10, I give this album
9/10. Only a few songs weren't to my liking, but overall I liked the album.
Sorry if that was a little long-winded and too descriptive, but that's how I write. :)
Also their album isn't just 'beautiful', so don't go thinking its some pansy album. Trust me, they're got a raw element to their music which makes it interesting to listen.
I'm not going to give away a torrent of the album or anything, 'coz that's how the Pirates roll.
Instead, have a free, legal EP2 from Delphic directly from their site:
Delphic EP2 Download
Enjoy the Review Guys!
Renegade
