Delphic: Acolyte
Delphic: Acolyte
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Sunday, 10, Jan 2010 10:06
Polydor, out January 11th.
What's it all about?
How it happened is anyone's guess, but over the last couple of years, the BBC's 'Sound Of...' poll has become the barometer for new bands each year. Somehow this annual list of new music has become the touchstone that everyone looks at when they want to know who's going to make it big in music over the next 12 months. And, either because the BBC's "165 UK-based tastemakers" are bang on the money every year, or because every other website/newspaper just takes the BBC's list and then bangs on about the bands that are in it, they've tended to be pretty accurate predictions.
This means that Manchester-based Dephic can probably look forward to a pretty happy 2010, after being placed third in this year's poll. They're in pretty good company, with Florence and the Machine, Klaxons, Wiley and Yeah Yeah Yeahs all also appearing in that position in years gone by. All they have to do now is make sure that their debut album, Acolyte, delivers the sort of electronic-tinged nuggets that won the critics over and not follow the Ting Tings (third in 2008) into advert-soundtracking crapness.
Who's it by?
Delphic are quite like New Order (and therefore brilliant) because they are:
a) three men from Manchester.
b) into making music that sounds good on a dancefloor but also had guitars in it.
c) prone to giving their songs obscure and oblique one-word titles.
Delphic aren't that much like New Order (and therefore slightly naff) because they are:
a) from 2010 and not from the 1980s, when merging dance and indie music was a novel idea.
b) a band who have not had to deal with massive personal tragedy following the death of a lead singer when they were arguably a more influential group.
c) signed to a massive record label and not propping up a fiercely independent label keen to promote Manchester's scene as much as possible (although, to be fair to Delphic, they did release an early single on Kitsune).
As an example...
"Doubt, in it all for me/I've hit the wall, all that's left for you is doubt." - Doubt
"Read with me what is said wasn't never meant to hurt / Real stories always come of worse." - This Momentary
What the others say
"Along with their refreshing meld of dance and indie they deliver unabashed helpings of perfect techno-pop. They're the antidote to all the Mumford and Son clones; an epic breath of fresh air that truly is the sound of NOW." - Salvador Gnarley, Vice he's taking the p**s, by the way)
"Acolyte is packed with moments that sound exactly like New Order... it's hard not to feel it would take an almost superhuman effort on the part of the public to resist them." - Alexis Petridis, Guardian
So is it any good?
It might not be the most original idea but Dephic have really nailed the whole indie-dance thing on Acolyte. They're probably already sick of the New Order comparisons but when Delphic get it right - like on singles Doubt, This Momentary and Counterpoint - Hook and co. really are the best people they could be compared to.
The band's music has the sort of soaring quality that the best sort of pop music possesses, coupled with enough electronic production to keep it interesting. Credit has to go to producer Berlin-based DJ Ewan Pearson, who successfully merges the two styles, creating a whole where the electronics and the indie never seem to be in conflict.
There are moments when Acolyte drops into mimicry and drags - you could probably do without Red Lights and Ephemera - but when Delphic are on song they make music that could have easily kept an otherwise loss-making club in business long enough to redefine dance music.
7/10
James Cooper