This is some really solid indie pop, full of strong melodies with those classic boy-girl vocals that so many people love.
This is a strong set of songs, regardless of which singer is singing. Though there are a few songs that stand out more than the others, for the most part I would say that this is a pretty damn strong set, that would compare favourably with many of the other bands like this around the time. If anything, I might suggest that their songs are even stronger, melody-wise, than most of the other bands like this. (But I say that as I’ve been listening to this recently and no other indie pop like this.)
But this is clean, accessible indie pop. The only thing that really makes it “indie” is the vocal affect, which is very much of that untrained ’90s vibe. There’s a little distortion here and there – hilariously encouraging some people to label this “shoegaze” for some crazy reason – but for the most part this is a harder version of twee pop with better production.
As a result, it’s, well, not very interesting. The songs are pretty damn strong, as I’ve said, but the music itself is just run-of-the-mill late ’90s indie pop.
Basically, a really strong set of songs that will appeal to you if you like the genre but will not be so impressive if you don’t like the genre.
6/10
All songs by The Delgados.
- “Everything Goes Around the Water”
- “The Arcane Model”
- “The Actress”
- “Clarinet”
- “Pull The Wires from the Wall”
- “Repeat Failure”
- “And So the Talking Stopped”
- “Don’t Stop”
- “Blackpool”
- “Russian Orthodox”
- “The Weaker Argument Defeats the Stronger”
- Alun Woodward – Vocals, Guitar
- Emma Pollock – Vocals, Guitar
- Stewart Henderson – Bass Guitar
- Paul Savage – Drums
Featuring:
- Alan Barr, Jennifer Christie, Emily MacPherson – strings
- Camille Mason – flute, clarinet and piano
- Gregor Reid – percussion