A couple of year back, Manchester trio Delphic arrived on the scene with an outrageously confident debut. Acolyte drew on reference points like early ‘90s New Order and the Haçienda sound, but found a style all of its own – it was a seemingly-effortless combination of indie rock and vintage rave music, and each of its tracks got the endorphins rushing. In light of that strong debut, Collections is a puzzling follow-up. It’s not the dog that many critics are claiming, but it definitely represents a drastic change in tone and style.
The most obvious difference is in the arrangements – where the older songs were densely-packed with bleeps and flutters and pulses, the new ones feel far more spare and stripped-back. Often, the focus seems to be on just one element, like the stirring, Eastern-style strings on Baiya or the piano on Tears Before Bedtime. James Cook’s vocals are also way more prominent this time, which makes it a lot harder to ignore the nasal quality that they sometimes have. Opening song Of The Young shows that Delphic are quite capable of producing rousing, hands-in-the-air bangers when they choose to, while Atlas is a weepy six-minute power ballad complete with dubstep breakdowns, a feat that few other bands would be game to attempt.
If anything, Collections sounds like an album that was made to be played live – these leaner and more muscular songs will probably translate more readily to festival stages than those on Acolyte. As an album, though, it doesn’t hang together in the effortless way that their first one did. Collections is definitely ambitious, but it never quite finds its own voice.
BY ALASDAIR DUNCAN
Best Track: Of The Young
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: In Ghost Colours CUT COPY
In A Word: Jumpy
