Dangerbird Records

Delphic

In a world of indie bands dipping a cautious toe into dance music’s occasionally baffling computer world, Delphic are post-dance futurist nostalgics from Manchester who have managed to take repetitive beats and crisp electronics out of the underground to emerge as one of the UK’s most exciting new bands. Their debut record, Acolyte, will see its long awaited US release on June 29th, 2010 via Dangerbird.

Acolyte was released in the UK at the start of this year and debuted at #8 on the UK album charts. The months leading up to the release saw UK critics buzzing with praise and soon found publications like NME, Q, and The Times of London declaring Acolyte one of 2010’s best debut records, amazing praise given that the record was released just a few weeks into the new year. Delphic secured Top 3 placing in both the BBC “Sound of 2010” poll and the Critics Choice Award at the 2010 Brit Awards. Pulsating and invigorating sets at T in the Park, Reading, Leeds and Bestival built a following of rabid fans and Delphic went on to play a sold-out UK headlining tour in early 2010.

Delphic is comprised of Richard Boardman, Matthew Cocksedge and James Cook who have been together for only a year. They make their music on laptops before figuring out how to play it live, throwing guitars, bass and drums over the electronics to result in their unique sound, then take to the stage and stitch their songs together into one continuous euphoric DJ set-like onslaught. Produced with the Berlin-based Techno émigré Ewan Pearson, Acolyte was recorded mostly in Pearson’s Berlin studio, the city’s flourishing techno scene bleeding into the crisp grooves but never to the detriment of the band’s emotive songwriting. Whether on the explosively percussive “Clarion Call,” the lost longing of “Submission,” the sheer contagiousness of “Halcyon” or the epic scope of the title track, Delphic consistently demonstrate that their ability to write massive songs is equal to their ability to build bangin’ beats. “With a lot of dance albums, you search out the singles but the rest is all a bit samey and boring,” says Matt, “We wrote the album as a whole and weren’t afraid to lower the tempos and concentrate on the songs.”

On stage, their glorious hard-wired gene pool of anthemic indie and stadium techno comes into its own, driving along like a perfectly pitched DJ set where other bands pause to sip their riders between songs, Delphic slip in hypnotic driving techno interludes that turn any gigs into a rave.