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Delamere - Delamere

 

On the soundcloud stream of Delamere the tag #Gothic is inexplicably amongst those to describe what you're about to hear. Anthemic, at times quite summery, the quartet's indie sound is a world away from the doom and gloom brought to mind by that label. Unless of course I've missed some shift in musical boundaries. 

Pace-wise the album could certainly do with an infusion of Sisters Of Mercy-like drive and energy as it fails to excite early on - mid-tempo songs with ambitions to engage the listener emotionally which lack hooks or good enough lyrics to manage that. Background music for some shiny & forgettable US TV drama or straight to DVD film.

It's hard to pin down any possible influences from within the recent past - White Lies & Django Django maybe and perhaps Late Of The Pier but overwhelmingly there's a whiff of the '80s in the shape of Haircut 100, Simple Minds and, to be honest, the kind of fare from that decade that I'd have expected my Mum to enjoy at the time. Safe & predictable and something for Radio 2 to feature as proof it plays young bands.

This is not the voice of upset Remain campaigners or young Corbynistas calling for unity. Love or its loss may be a governing topic through the band's ten songs but even that's not inspiring. You'll not find yourself empathising with the likes of 'Woods'. More likely, if your mate started pining this badly you'd cut him off short and drag him down to the pub for a more productive session of wallowing in his misery. Or you'd nip out to do so yourself whilst his back was turned.

Still, this lightweight sort of stuff goes as easily as it comes. What's continually beyond me is what possesses otherwise lively looking individuals to make music with such an obviously limited shelf life in the first place, albeit they're no doubt trying their best.

Delamere is available direct from the band here.

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