Ten For 2010: Delphic

Ten For 2010: Delphic
Words: Harriet Gibsone

This Manchester trio’s debut album begins with the eerie chiming of a level crossing, a striking anticipation-laden introduction into a body of songs that explode and fracture into shards of sonic rapture, exhilarating and stirring, each song elevating, rupturing and evolving from the last. Delphic are one of 2010’s most promising acts and have managed to capture the electro-euphoria zeitgeist perfectly with ‘Acolyte’ without compromising their steadfast Manc bolshiness and integrity. We meet the trio in an east London pub, a place that they claim normally “seizes up” their creative flow. But maybe we’ve caught them at a good time – on the brink of their album release, it’s all eyes on Delphic. And rightfully so. Based in Manchester and being a band that primarily make dance music, the threesome have become accustomed to words such as ‘Haçienda’, ‘New’ and ‘Order’ thrown into every other review and interview they’ve conducted. Delphic, though, are a bit more forward thinking than that. “It just felt like in the past few years people were looking back at the past with a bit too much fondness. We wanted to look forward and treat the past with respect, because it deserves it – but at the same time Manchester needs to move on,” guitarist Matt Cocksedge boldly insists. “It’s got such a rich heritage and not much was coming out of there. We were all waiting for something to come out of it. It’s an exciting city and people are always looking towards it to see what’s going to happen next.” Although contemporary comparisons with Friendly Fires and Bloc Party have been banded, neither possess the disco balls to make the coccyx of their debut an eight-minute instrumental that sounds somewhere inbetween a glacial Sigur Ros, Orbital and Chemical Brothers’ ‘Star Guitar’. “Before we started [making the album] we thought we had to put ourselves in an uncomfortable situation. We all ran away to this little cottage in the Lake District and retired to conceptualise the record,” singer James excitedly explains. “With [the song] ‘Acolyte’ we spent the next 18 months finishing writing that whilst writing the others, so it’s kind of a microcosmic part of the record. We pretty much had to tear ourselves away from it, it was the last thing we did and that last minute of the song really, sonically, says it all.” Although produced by prestigious dance pioneer Ewan Pearson, Delphic initially had their eyes on one of their heroes to work on the record. “When we first started flirting with labels we’d only talk to them if they could get Tom from Chemical Brothers to come and work on our record,” Rick reveals. “So we did a couple of tunes [with him] but it didn’t really work out. He made it sound brilliant and it was so exciting listening to it but it wasn’t what we had set out to do. He worked on ‘Counterpoint’ but it just wasn’t right for it.” “It was really good what he did to it, but it just didn’t match. It wasn’t the song that we had in our heads,” Matt chimes in, “When we first heard Ewan’s version of ‘Counterpoint’ that was our song – but on record. He didn’t want to make it like a Ewan Pearson record; I think that’s real danger sometimes with an artist.” Production wizardry aside, Delphic feel like a band ready to plunge into the mainstream with their ambitious, unrelenting offerings, brimming with songs destined to turn every gig into a sea of raised hands and beaming faces. Whether they’re dipping their toes into serene New Romantic flamboyancy in ‘Submission’, gargantuan euro-pop whirrs on ‘Halcyon’ or fusing Johnny Marr guitars with euphoric, skyscraping synths in ‘Doubt’, 2010’s electronic torch bearers are set to fill our venues, ears and hearts with their galvanising, exuberant originality.

‘Acolyte’ is out on Chimeric/Polydor on January 11th.

THE NEW ORDER

Manchester. The birthing ground of Factory Records, the forefront of 90s hedonism at the infamous Haçienda, home of The Smiths, The Fall, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, Oasis, The Verve, Joy Division and New Order, Doves, The Charlatans, Elbow and, err, M People. It’s the city that sets trends, sets standards and is set to dominate 2010 with its eclectic range of curiously refreshing offerings. You’ve heard all about Delphic, now check out some other Manc acts that are wetting our aural appetites:

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING

Warping our tiny brains with their captivatingly twisted genre-bending, and now armed with a Geffen record deal and an army of surreally storming hits up their sleeves, we’re eagerly awaiting EE’s debut album in 2010.

HURTS

Glistening with pristine 80s pop-pomposity and charm, we’ve warmed to the intriguingly bold sounds of Hurts (above). Theo Hutchcraft (vocals) and Adam Anderson (electronics, guitar) are certainly set for big things in 2010.

EGYPTIAN HIP HOP

With psychedelic flecks of baggy Stone Roses-styled sounds and eccentric multi-faceted synth-pop, EHH are ready to give Klaxons and Late Of The Pier a run for their money. Bouncy, bizarre brilliance.

DUTCH UNCLES

The Smiths, Field Music, XTC are just some of the acts Dutch Uncles doth their caps to. Smattered with saccharine vocals and angular guitar riffs, this band are packed with musical magnetism.