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Delphic - 'Doubt'

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Fraser McAlpine | 12:37 UK time, Monday, 4 January 2010

Delphic

Change is afoot. There are pine needles on the pavement, and gaps on window-ledges where a fibre-optic Christmas tree had proudly rested only the day before. Charity shops are receiving bagfulls of unwanted bits and bobs and loft-ladders are creaking under dad's (slightly increased) weight as he puts the decorations away for another year, and rubs his skinned knuckle, grumpily.

2010 is under way, and we're going to have to learn to leave behind some of the habits we picked up in the headiest days of the '09 and start to experiment with new things, in order to evolve into...whatever it is we are going to become in the big one-oh.

This means new bands, new songs, new everything: Business as usual for ChartBlog then.

(. It's on their ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sound Of 2010 profile page. They might even WIN!)

So here's Delphic. They're from Manchester, they're not afraid of a bit of the modern technology, like samplers and synthesizers and dance music and stuff, and they've got guitars too. This makes them officially the embodiment of everything I was just talking about (although there really should be a point at which we all agree that samplers and synths have been around for over 40 years now, in one form or another, so to suggest that they're in any way groundbreaking is just plain wrong).

What they're very good at is taking all of this electrical stuff and making it sound pillow-soft and comfortable, without ever losing the caged lightning at its core. So while 'Doubt' wafts about in a fragrant fashion, like a perfumed cloud, it's a perfumed cloud that has substance enough to give you a black eye if you were to run into it at speed.

As a song, it's almost all chorus, but it's a good chorus. The verses are really only there to add booming atmospherics and ticking machinery to proceedings, and to maybe aurally conjecture as to what Bloc Party were to sound like if Kele toned the yelping down a bit.

Also, I'll admit to being slightly disappointed when the song fails to elaborate on the "ah-ee-ay-ah-ee-ee-ay-oh" sampled voice loop introduction, beyond bringing it back from time to time. Not because there's anything wrong with using an arresting idea sparingly, it's more that for a tantalising moment, I thought I was listening to Sebastien Tellier's softypop Eurovision masterpiece 'Divine'.

*waves threatening fist at Alexander Rybak*

Three starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: January 4th

´óÏó´«Ã½ Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

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