A Call To Arms

Mgmt say on their song The Youth that “this is a call to arms to live and love and sleep together’. Very nice thought, one might say, maybe a bit too hippy for my tastes. Delphic drop any sort of reference to any period in time and are a bit more liberal. The opening song on their debut Acolyte points out that this is a “call to all, a call to arms, a call to everything you wanted”. And, in some ways (atmosphere it creates, instruments, way the keyboards are used), in sure feels like a declaration of independence.

Clarion Call is also something like the first song off a compilation. Remember what Rob Flaming said in High Fidelity about good compilations? That the intro song has to grab one’s attention. Well, it does. And Doubt, second in line, takes it one step further, so there, Rob is happy. It bites straight into the idea of broken trust and relationships that are too complex for us to make them work. You know it, sure, the same saccato vocals, same anger, just that now the chorus is not so much of a burst of strangely uplifting energy. It’s more low-key, the chorus, in fact and so the song’s overall feeling is more genuine.

And now we get to the next track you have to add to your perfect mixtape. Actually, cd, cause we live in the modern age. Yes, the third song has to be something low-key to calm the listener, to help him relax because we don’t want to stress him. This Momentary is quite a relaxing experience, it’s really aural and out-of-this-world.

So, by now, we need to get back to the grab attention-set it up-relax scheme. Red Lights is the first proper dance-y track (and remainder of why Delphic got tagged as an indietronic act) on the debut. It’s rather New Order-meets-Kraftwerk and it has a rather ‘whip it’ (no, not the song, just what you do with a whip) vibe and it seems like there are 20 people singing not one.

Acolyte is where Delphic do it The Mars Volta way, electro style: almost nine minutes of epicness and ego boasting and beats taking over every inch of the space around you and sheer keyboard virtuosity. But Delphic are cheeky ones and don’t think that on should be left yo rest after such a song. So they say goodbye to our little scheme and take on Halcyon, Delphic’s grasp of nu-rave. Yes, insane rave beats, guitars riffs and burst of vocal energy are to be heard.

So it’s rather surprising (or rather not) to hear the cold 80s beats of Submission. Yet again, Delphic have a great deal to thank to New Order and maybe a bit of early Depeche Mode. Counterpoint is hyper and it has a great beat repeating itself in the back (which kind of makes it psychotic) and helps understand why Bloc Party are listed as one of their influences. Ephemera is, well, an interlude, an announcement that things are coming to an end. And then there’s Remain or what a beautiful album closer should sound like: dronish a bit, ethereal, perfect for the morning after the big party.