Delays
Manchester: The Smiths, Oasis, New Order.
Southampton: Craig David. And – now – Delays.
And, fortunately, there ain’t no bling attached to the very latter, a band endowed with the honour of forming one of Rough Trade’s most recent signings in 2003, and a four-piece (Greg Gilbert: vox/guitars; Aaron Gilbert: keys/vox; Colin Fox: bass/vox; Rowly: drums) widely reckoned to form one of the forthcoming spell’s most prominent, emergent talents.
With good cause; their sound is a wistful, timeless and hopelessly classic formula of giddy six-string strumming, impossible falsettos (that’d be Greg), wiry keyboards and samples, and songs so melodic they’re embossed on the human-subconscious before they’ve even entered a second verse. Think The La’s jamming with Cocteau Twins, or any other such ‘ethereal’ or ‘dreamy’ alt-pop combo.
With their debut-45 ‘Nearer Than Heaven’ in April 2003 (capped by a memorable, triumphant, sell-out London headline at rockfeedback’s own Basement Club), the signs were positive; widespread airplay ensued, as did rampant press-coverage, both bolstered even further for another release – ‘Hey Girl’, which slid into the top-40 during the summer. Touring remained extensive, and in between extensive months on the road with the likes of The Thrills and The Coral, the opportunity to produce a first album arose, and was produced amidst the legendary vacuum that is Rockfield Studios.
Kick-starting 2004 with a second sure-fire hit – ‘Long Time Coming’, following all the arduous groundwork, it seems set that the upcoming twelve months are the time where Delays clear up and reap the rewards.
OFFICIAL SITE: The authorised and packed-to-the-rafters-with-erm-stuff Delays site features a highly active message-board, the latest news, full touring-info, and a discography featuring sound-files.
ROUGH TRADE RECORDS: Did you know that the Southampton foursome happen to share a proverbial, musical home with The Libertines, British Sea Power, Belle & Sebastian and The Strokes? (That\'s one family-photo album we\'d like to see...).