Delphic - 'Halcyon'
Contrary to what you may believe, this reviewing lark isn't all glamour. Oh sure, there are perks - you get to listen to a lot of great music for starters - but there's a dark secret behind the job which has never been revealed until now. We're all a bunch of nigglers.
Seriously, it's like an affliction, a kind of ADHD. You can't just listen and enjoy a fun song without ranking it alongside other fun songs, or worse, attempting to work out how the magic is created, or even WORSE, trying to name the thing in the song which is similar to things in other songs. Niggling is not for the faint-hearted, and once it takes hold, there's not a right lot you can do about it.
If I was in In The Night Garden, I'd be Niggle Piggle.
If I sold insurance on the telly alongside a terrifying puppet version of myself, I'd be Niggle Pop.
And if I had formed a groundbreaking LA-based hardcore rap troupe in the late '80s with a bunch of other reviewers, we'd be absolutely terrible.
(Here's the video. Note: this is NOT how you knit people.)
In the case of Delphic's latest, the niggle was a long time coming. At first I was struck by the stark backwash of chuntering synths, the dead-eyed wail of the chorus, and the bolshy way the band's conventional rock arsenal barges into the dreamy dance cloud. There's even a guitar solo! A good one!
And that vocal refrain's not bad is it? Jams into the remembral cortex like a spoon in a trifle, and won't come out without a hideous sucking noise.
But here's where The Affliction starts to take hold. Something's not right. There's a memory, or the shadow of a memory. Listening to the song is like listening to another song, or another band, and now the job of work is not so much letting the music transform everything around me into solid vibrating masses of lovely, as trying to decode the puzzle. It's like a game called Name That Niggle, and unfortunately, I'm pretty good at it.
Sometimes it takes a while though, and some work. Certain points of the song are more niggly than others, so you have go back to those bits, listen hard, hum a bit, slap your forehead, go "ahhhh!", and eventually, with a LOT of hard work and a certain amount of luck, inspiration strikes:
"Oh it's the KLAXONS! They sound like a drippy KLAXONS!"
And then you may rest. Pathetic, isn't it?
Download: Out now
CD Released: March 8th
www.delphic.cc
BBC Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comment number 1.
At 11:40 2nd Mar 2010, spirit wrote:Saw Delphic live in a very small venue , a few months back and they are a terrific band live.
Their album went top 10 , but previous single Doubt failed to chart.
HALYCON has a very memorable chorus , and will encourage more interest in the band .
I know they have previously supported Bloc Party , and I can hear a lot of party influence in a lot of their songs .
Seriously , if you like the album , then you MUST see Delphic live .
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Comment number 2.
At 12:54 2nd Mar 2010, CurtainJerker wrote:As soon as I read Niggle Piggle and Niggle Pop, I thought of that NWA joke too. High five.
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Comment number 3.
At 13:03 2nd Mar 2010, CurtainJerker wrote:If you were a dreadful Outhere Brothers monstrosity which inexplicably made it to number one, you'd be Don't Stop (Niggle Niggle).
If you were a character in Boogie Nights, you'd be Dirk (careful typing) Niggler.
If you were a market town in Bedfordshire, you'd be Niggleswade.
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Comment number 4.
At 16:09 2nd Mar 2010, flatknees wrote:you're right it does sound like klaxons.. was wondering what that was.. very good track though.. anyone know whats goin on with klaxons second album? last i heard the record company had rejected what they put through, saying it was too experimental or something..
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Comment number 5.
At 17:46 2nd Mar 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:I've heard somewhere that the Klaxons have finished recording the new album so I'm guessing it will be out sometime this year.
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Comment number 6.
At 18:56 3rd Mar 2010, OddOne wrote:I think this song deserves at least Top 20, after 'Doubt' failed to even crack the Top 100, I'm desperate that this song does better because Delphic really deserve it.
4 stars from me.
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Comment number 7.
At 20:48 3rd Mar 2010, jonesybcfc wrote:i dont like the noise when you pull a spoon out of gloopy stuff.
4 stars, i quite like it :)
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Comment number 8.
At 16:01 12th Mar 2010, kylielikely wrote:Really like track but I think Doubt was a better single. All good stuff though and Acolyte one of my favourite albums so far this year along with Ellie Goulding. Fabulous housey remix on her Starry Eyed single.
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Comment number 9.
At 18:42 26th Mar 2010, spirit wrote:Delphic are struggling to have a hit single , despite the album going top 10 .
Both Doubt and Halycon have failed to chart .
Interesting . .
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Comment number 10.
At 21:00 26th Mar 2010, harrythedog10 wrote:I wouldn't discount Delphic just yet, remember New Order's (a band who they're often compared to) first album Movement only charted at no.30 even after the high-profile death of Ian Curtis.
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