Monday 1 November 2010

Delphic - The Junction - 16/03/2010


***Published September 2010

So, Delphic. For those of you who try to not to be influenced by relentless radio airtime or BBC sound of 2010 polls (Mika came 1st in 2007, What?!) Delphic are an alt/electronica four piece, who had recently propelled into mainstream consciousness via immense critical acclaim and tours with The Streets and Bloc Party. In March 2010 Delphic appeared to a packed-out Junction in Cambridge.

I was lucky enough to chat to synth player/singer Richard Boardman a few hours before the show. There were some pleasantries. Yes I have heard the album. No it’s not Cambridge Uni it’s some other one nearby. Yes I’d love a glass of orange juice. Richard is a proper gentleman, despite the bands moody image and relentless critical praise. I mentioned the success the band had been having and asked if there a specific event that tipped it off?
‘I don’t think there was one particular event unfortunately it more of just a really natural build. We started gigging in 2009 and we were writing an album at the same time, we were really conscious to not be one of those bands who are suddenly like ‘Whoah, you’re just the next big thing’

Delphic have been hailed by many as the long awaited new blood to fill the gaping void in Manchesters famous indie music scene, comparisons are consistently made to classic acts like New Order. Despite this, they don’t seem phased by this heavy burden. I begin to ask ‘Does it irritate you that people always seem to want to relate your music back to Manchester or...’. He interrupts,apparently he fully understood my question long before my sentence was complete.
‘...When we started we knew this would happen. We were wondering if we should do the same that thing that The Ting-Tings did and say we came from a different town altogether but then we thought that Manchester really needed some newer bands. There’s not really much going on in the city. What’s the last really good band that’s come out since Elbow or Doves? But not even those bands have really taken the city by the balls. So we thought that we should just add something back to Manchester because we’re all proud of the city. It doesn’t irritate us but yeah, people do take it too far.’

Their live set is a striking, bold display of textually rich-improv and seemingly endless strobe lighting. The crowd swaying, bopping in that terribly polite Cambridge sort of way. For many the highlights are singles Counterpoint, This Momentary and Doubt. For me it’s their set ender Acolyte, the song gradually builds layer upon layers before a swooping arpeggiator lick drives it into a euphoric, hypnotic trance. I mentioned the song to him and asked if there was any point to their live set that epitomizes them.
‘Acolyte’s my favorite to play live, that song kind of epitomizes the whole band and the whole concept behind the record really, we don’t have to limit ourselves to doing a three minute tune with a verse and a chorus and we can just make it as long as we want - eight minutes in this case. But I guess the whole set is just one big song, it adds a different dimension to the music compared to the album. We’re really reluctant to let anything die down to that point when people can nip to the toilet or something, we wanna make sure we never give people that moment. And if we ever notice that moment in a set we’ll try and mix it up for the next time or just add something really obnoxious and loud and then drop into something else. We take a lot from DJ sets and bands like The Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk. Its nice to be able to contrast that with a big guitar solo from Matt. It’s a nice juxtaposition and hopefully adds something unique.’

Finally, I asked ‘How would you pitch the band Delphic to somebody who hasn’t listened to music since 1975?’ Slightly phased by my silly silly question he hazards an answer:
‘Err, well. Early synthesizers were about in ’75 and Kraftwerk were messing around taking apart organs and Pink Floyd were messing around with early moods and stuff like that. So I guess I’d say ‘Look at these kind of things’. I’d have to give them a bit of history. But, people in 1975 they’ve got so much to come. They’ve got punk, they’ve got all that electronic music, I’m not sure it would make sense to them.

So are Delphic really the Manchester band to place fingers on the citys rich history? - It’s too early to tell. What is striking about them however is how focused and confident they are with their sound and performance, despite being only 18 months old. The certain thing about them is that they do have the potential to be huge.

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