London 2008.. Since we last met, Delays have played sold-out U.S tours, recorded, ‘Stardust’ style, in a chateux in Spain, and found themselves a new home.
“The last couple of years have been the biggest rollercoaster ride you’ve ever seen“ smiles Aaron Gilbert (electronics wizard and brother of Greg).
“It’s been sad and beautiful all at once. I’ve been rushed back from tour with nervous exhaustion, the works. But I wouldn’t change a minute of it.”
“Put it this way” smiles brother Greg. “We’ve come a long way from playing songs in a garage, dressed like The Sweet!“
Delays have long been British rock’s best kept secret. A heady concoction of angelic harmonies, beat-group hauteur and groove-based hedonism, they belong to British pop’s most regal bloodline: (early) Floyd, The Smiths, The Stone Roses.
Hitch a lift with them to North America, however, and you’ll see their euphoric ballroom blitz send fans into a frenzy. Head south of the border and it’s a full on teenage rampage.
“We played a sold-out stadium gig at this bullring in Mexico” says Aaron. “We got a limo to the gig and they were selling bootleg Delay’s t-shirts on the streets outside the arena. Not bad considering we haven’t even released a record there.”
Sometimes a delay can be a good thing. Had a brisk north-easterly not slowed the progress of the Armada when it was bound for the South Coast in in 1588, you’d probably be reading this in Spanish. Equally, having formed a decade ago in Southampton as glam-rock reprobates Corky –recruiting Aaron en route- the band have forged a bond which trumps faddishness hands down.
Aaron: “We’ve known each other from school. Because of that, we’ve got a really deep connection, which comes through in the music. We’re a proper gang, we grew up together, we just do what we feel is right.”
Such togetherness has brought with it a keen sense of purpose, as well as a pan-generic psychedelic know-how covering all bases from Oz to Prince to the Aphex Twin.
Having signed to Rough Trade in 2004, they released their debut album Faded Seaside Glamour the same year. A riot of page-boy haircuts, nifty riffs and celestial harmonies, it boasted top Twenty hits ‘Long Time Coming’ and ‘Nearer Than Heaven’ and prompted the Guardian to describe them as “the first guitar band in a decade to lay claim to the melodic guitar pop throne invented by The Byrds and the Hollies.”
Follow up You See Colours (2006) saw their psych-pop blueprint delivered with added BPM. A brooding mix of “Voulez Vous’ and ‘The La’s’, it spawned alpha-pop hits ‘Valentine’ (NME Track Of The Week) and ‘Hideaway’ and brought both an army of new admirers and a mutually agreed split from Rough Trade.
“It was a weird situation to be in” explains bassist Colin Fox. “We’d be playing to huge crowds at Glastonbury and T In the Park, all the while aware that we didn’t know who was going to put the next record out.”
”In a strange way it galvanised us” adds drummer Rowly. “We did a self-financed tour with the last of our money, and those were best shows we’ve ever done.The last date was at the Guildhall in Southampton, and the cherry on the cake was that we signed the new deal that night.”
“It’s a cliché to say it,” laughs Greg, “but after all the hassles, signing with Fiction was like that bit in the Wizard Of Oz where it goes from black and white to colour.”
For a band so absorbed by pop’s kaleidoscopic past -a quick straw poll of current faves reveals a love of doo-wop, The Flaming Lips and Mogwai- it makes sense that their new circumstances should be seen as as an awakening into technicolour. But their journey from darkness into light has also given Delays a hard won perspective on the pop process.
Greg: “In the last year I’ve come out of one really long relationship, met someone new and signed a new deal. Inevitably, that’s all going to end up in the music.”
All of which brings us to Everything’s The Rush. Recorded over twenty days in Spain with producer Youth (Primal Scream/Verve/Paul McCartney), it is the sound of Delays striding confidently into the big league. The tunes are brighter, the choruses are bigger, the need for emotional rescue greater than ever. If the urgency can be put down to a desire to make up for lost time, the super-charged guitar sounds and soaring synths owe something to psycho-geography.
“We recorded at Youth’s chateux in Grenada, which is high up in the mountains” explains Aaron.
“The live room has got a huge window with panoramic views over the Sierra Nevada range. When you’re staring at a mountain in a room full of amps, you want to make a sound that’s as big as the sky.”
From foot-to-the-floor opener ‘Girl’s On Fire’ -think The La’s at Red Rocks- to neurotic space disco “Friends Are False” to sky-scraping strings-assisted stomp ‘Touchdown’ (key lyric: “I’ll be calling on your radio!”) Everything’s A Rush is final proof that Delays have the melodic nouse to slug it out in Stadiumsville.
The music may be the musical equivalent of a huge gulp of alpine air, but listen closer and the lyrics reveal a darker aftertaste.
“One third of the album relates to the detritus of us getting out of Rough Trade and our private situations, and the other two thirds are about the joy of discovering new things and the beauty of making music again” explains Greg.
“We’re almost back to the point we were at before we had a deal. We decided to throw it all in there - take the soul of what we do and explode it. ”
With Aaron providing vocals and an acerbic lyrical wit on four tracks (not least on idlers anthem ‘One More Lie-In’), it’s the sound of a band scaling new peaks, tackling their personal demons along the way.
“A song like ‘Hooray’ sounds really uplifting, but it’s actually about me having O.C.D laughs Greg. “It seemed too easy to write a maudlin song. For me, music is at it’s best when it’s fragile and human; people crave that connection.”
Aaron: “For us, melody is king. We want to make music which sends a shiver down your spine.”
It’s been worth the wait.
Turn up the speakers; join the rush.
Paul Moody
London, Jan 2008
HaHah HooHah i'm going to the hyde park tomorrow i'm happy to live in London~ i wish i would not like you,if i see you. it's difficult to love somebody.
I LOVE YOU... but you know that already.... please tour again (another Last Days Of Summer) coz I ain't coming to the festivals coz there are too many people and the booze is rubbish and I hate daylight... sweaty venues is where it is at!!! Hope all is going well with you guys and that you are having fun... thank you a million times thank you for the joy you bring...
Hey Greg! Thanks for that very freaky moment that just occured. Appreciated. Not forgetting the scoop too. xx
Just met Greg up the local shops. I happen to be wearing my 'You See Colours' tee today and had been listening to 'Everything's The Rush' moments before. Brilliant yet so weird. Makes a change from seeing Colin around anyway lol.
By the way, Does Aaron do 'One More Lie In' live at all? Didn't do it on May 17th :( ..it's one of my fav Delays tracks, I want it to be done at the next Southampton gig lol. It's in demand Aaron. xx
hey, i saw rowley outside hamptons on saturday, also thought i better say sorry if i was rude in anyway as i was quite drunk cos it was my birthday night out
i can't believe you're coming to thetford and i can't come to see you!! :( although, i did order your album yesterday so maybe on the night i can just turn it up full blast and dance around my room for a bit? not as good as the real thing, but a pretty good second best :) xxxx
OK, here's the way to decide on those B-sides. I don't know how many song options you have, but say you have 6. Each one of you lists them in a 1-6 order with 6 being your favourite and 1 your least favourite. Then you count the points (the 1-6) that each song got and the one with least points is dropped. Repeat until 3 songs are left. Does that make it easier or would you just end up banging each other on the heads with drumsticks, tambourines and tambourine gloves? Love, Emmi Xx
If you have 4 b-sides. Why don't you put out 2 cd singles. One with two songs & another with the other 3 b-sides on it. A ltd edition vinyl, single would be cool. Or you could just release a b-sides album some day. (i'd buy it!)
hiya, saw u again at the isle of wight festival and had a great time jumping around like loonies with kitty von tassle. we were sad we didnt get to use out hooray banners this time tho :( (from soton gig) x
