Delphic - Baiya - Collections

I first heard of this band about 4 years ago, when their first album "Acolyte" came out. There's a great track on there called "Doubt", click here for the Spotify link. The whole album is pretty good to be honest, it's indie but is quite electronically focussed. When this album came out, there weren't that many bands doing that kind of thing, but obviously now there's quite a lot of bands doing this (just look at this blog!). They were supported by Everything Everything, who are also within this genre and also from Manchester, but are slightly more eclectic. Delphic are made up of Richard Boardman, Matt Cocksedge, James Cook and Dan Hadley.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/infinitea/8671612371/in/photostream/

This song starts off with strings playing a motif that is used throughout the song. It's very different to most of the tracks on "Acolyte". After this motif, they sing "You wanted all the", which is also repeated throughout the song. The string motif plays through again, but this time with drums or potentially a drum machine.

The vocals, provided by James Cook, comes in after this, accompanied by the drums and the strings which play chords on the first beat of each bar, which emphasises the chord:

"Glass eye, broken jaw

400 legs kick down my door
On my life I swear I saw

The city burn, the jackals crawl"

There's then a bit just before the chorus which also adds in a bass guitar, and builds up the tension:

"Now I was dead before I hit the floor
I never stood a chance
A waste of sympathy, and burning effigies
I’m not a saint, but you’re a sin
I can feel you creeping"

The line: "I can feel you creeping" is on a diminished fifth chord, which gives it this creepy, sinister feel and builds up the suspense a bit more leading up to the chorus.

The chorus is fantastic, and massively catchy:

"All hell is breaking loose
Feel your fingers down my back
Leaving tracks

House of cards gonna collapse from under you

All hell is breaking loose
As you’re breathing down my neck
Tenderness is the only weapon left

I comfort you"

A guitar appears on the 1st and 3 + ½ beat of each bar, which has a great hook. Each line after "All hell is breaking loose" sounds as though it's sang slightly quieter, as though they're backing vocals. It's a pretty cool effect. The chorus plays through twice, and on the second playing, that string motif is also in the background.

The lyrics to this song are very interesting. I wonder if they're about anyone in particular...

The second verse sounds slightly heavier than the first. There's more guitar involvement and more activity in the vocals, with a varying melody to what there was before. As though he's building on the melody of the previous verse:

"You cry-wolf, you get wolf

Don’t close your eyes, keep dreaming on

Heads will roll for what you stole
Keep playing your broken game"
The chorus then plays through again, and after this there's a kind of linking bit which keeps the momentum going.

After this there's a middle 8 type thing, where everything is stripped back (as there always is):

"And now we’re standing back to back, to back, to back, to back
On an only stage the players play on,
And you turn around and see, see ṗeople, free people scream
Forever folding into you"

It's just the vocals with Oohs in the background. Claps then come in on the third line, and the whole thing keeps going so that it runs into the next chorus pretty much seamlessly. The chorus plays through twice until the end.

This will be a cracking summer tune! Let me know what you think.

Youtube:

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