The Delgados - 'All You Need Is Hate' (Mantra)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Have a glance at the lyrics. This should be the most depressing, doom-laden single released all year. 'Hate is everywhere, look inside your mother's heart and you will find it there'. That's right - this is a song about the most bitter of human emotions and should not be allowed, in any way, to make you come away from it feeling quite this good.
'Hate is all around', apparently. Your mum hates you, your job hates you, The Delgados might not even like you that much, but what are you going to do about it? According to Delgados main-man Alun Woodward - simply stop whinging and give up. If you can't beat them, you may as well join them, and you may as well be happy about it too. So sing your songs about everlasting hate with your arms waving in the air, a string quartet behind you and seemingly not a care in the world.
The sound is huge but without becoming ridiculous, just sufficiently glorious enough to be one of those records with built-in soul-lifting capabilities. It isn't a one-off either, as the album 'Hate' on which it originally appears is crammed full of tunes equally as fantastically moving as this example. Such is their immense talent that even when presented with the hefty challenge of making ELO sound wonderful (the b-side is a great little cover of 'Mr Blue Sky') they pull it off to marvellous effect.
As for the a-side, in just under three minutes of near-perfect sumptuous pop, it leaves us believing that the Beatles' classic 'All You Need Is Love' is completely misguided. If only one emotion can bring about a feeling this sun-soaked and happy, then we should make sure we're always a part. Bring on the summer of Hate. Please.
Artists in this article: The Delgados
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