The Delays

(Plus, well, they're HOTT!) [/usual Kate outburst]

ok i'm really rather looking forward to it now

I have a feeling that The Delays are a lot like that Manitoba record. I'll listen to it intensely for a few months because it's perfect for a situation and then probably put it aside and not give it another though when I'm done consuming it.

(xpost)

That's what being in a band is all about. Having good haircuts and good shoes and a tune you can carolanne on.

Twee and sugary? Perhaps, but it's the *right* kind of twee and sugary, as in slightly acidic sugary, more like a Pixie Stick than a marshmallow, ya know?

I'm glad that you like it, though. Yay! I probably shouldn't listen to it so much while doing the Reports From Hell, but I haven't come to associate it with badness, I still associate it with lying on a canal boat in the sun, which is a nice feeling to have resort back to when you're in the midst of some kind of ickystresshell.

Yes, I've had to force myself to take it off repeat, though, for exactly the same reasons you say, and now I'm listening to my beloved Dandy Warhols, because I need the sugarpsych textures. And the bleach. Sigh.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/primrosehill/languages-section.gif

i have been revisiting Faded Seaside Glamour and loving every second of it. this album, at time of release, kind of went under played as i didn't think it was that good. for some reason, probably because i'm such a fan of You See Colours, i have been listening to this album. it's great, much better than i remember, and gets under you skin with repeat listens.

i hope, because the last album was a commercial failure (excellent but hardly sold), they stick around and keep at it.

Still love FSG.

valentine sounds heavily influenced by paris angels' "perfume"

The new single is very weak, and the video for it is atrocious.

What's it called?

God knows, it's just shite. They ditched Graham Sutton as producer and got Youth in. SENSIBLE.

Graham Sutton was the greatest member of Delays! Haw.

Here's the video: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=20184669

The song is pretty bad, but the video is great...up until the very end, when it becomes even worse than the song.

New album leaked. Wish I didn't download it.

The Delays (eat that "THE" losers) accomplish in three albums (powerdiving into bombast hell) what Simple Minds needed seven albums to do.

Ugh. Oh well, I guess.

yeah, it's really really dreadful.

This is awfulawfulawful.

very sad at these comments, was looking forward to this.

Blame Youth.

It's not just leaked, either; it's out properly in the UK. I know a lot of people who love this band who are gutted with this record.

wow, not only had i never heard delays, id somehow never heard of them. but all the descriptions of fsg sounded right to me, so i got it. sorry to hear the latest sucks, but fsg is tops!

So I just pulled out You See Colours for the first time since 2006 (probably) and it's not as bad as I remember. It has some good songs. Still, when your the band who makes Faded Seaside Glamour your first time out, you may as well just break up immediately after the tour.

i ended up buying Everything's the Rush and liked it. "Keep It Simple" was the best song and liked others like "Love Made Visible," "No Contest" and "Touch Down."

Yeah, this was such a disappointment, like, never has a band fallen so far so fast. Don't really get it, they had such potential. But we were talking about British bands that go retro and start to suck after their first album, and this band might be a prime example.

Second album doesn't go retro or drop off, though? Perhaps not quite as good as the first, but it was the 3rd one when they let Youth in to fuck things up that it went badly, badly wrong.

I find them grating on so many levels and yet I always find myself deleting and downloading / downloading and deleting their songs 'long time coming' and 'valentine' over and over again.

I should stop the urge to delete and just hide them on a folder for temporal guilty pleasures that I shall only open once every three months.

"Nearer Than Heaven" is still my most played iTunes track

Listening now to Star Tiger Star Ariel now (terrible title!), and it's the first time I've had an immediately positive impression about a Delays album since the first one. It's still lacking the finesse and nuance of the debut, but they finally learned how to write hearty songs again.

What! i knew they got dropped and was wondering if they would release anything else. this is very, very good news and i ended up liking Everything's the Rush though i could be the only one on earth.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61uPrhdSe4L._SL500_.jpg

Star Tiger Star Ariel is the fourth studio release from indie rock outfit Delays. The Southampton four-piece build upon their dreamy indie sound, with Greg Gilbert's soaring falsetto maturing into a distinguished vocal here, while the album takes a simplistic approach with the roots of their hometown Southampton a major influence. Reuniting with producer Duncan Lewis, who produced their debut Faded Seaside Glamour, the record was recorded at Rockfield Studios (Queen, Stone Roses).

1. Find A Home (New Forest Shaker)
2. Lost Estate, The
3. Shanghaied
4. Rhapsody
5. May ’45
6. Hold Fire
7. Unsung
8. In Brilliant Sunshine
9. Moment Gone
10. Lakes Can Be Lethal
11. Star Tiger Star Ariel

Reuniting with producer Duncan Lewis, who produced their debut Faded Seaside Glamour

That being the case, he should become an official member of the band. Without him, they kind of blow.

I happened to run across an update that Delays were touring for the 10th anniversary of FSG, and thought I'd give it a relisten this morning. I truly, fully expected it not to hold up for me, remembering thinking that it sagged in the middle (the quieter, less Graham Sutton-ed numbers), and also just knowing that I'm not as into maudlin foppy music as I was 10 years ago. So I listened to it and kept expecting to be like, well, the first 2 songs are still really solid, then, well, the first 4 songs are a really solid run, and the number kept growing. The quieter songs work more than I realized before, especially when they eventually introduce more layers toward the end of the song (like the way layered, choir-like vocals that sweep in at the end of "No Ending"), the production is A+, the singer is Stevie Nicks, and I still love it, maybe more than ever. I was literally dancing in my apartment with tears in my eyes tbh lol.

10 years for real?!

Was just thinking about them today. And the time, a bit, probably because I just uploaded a couple of Colder albums to my cloud player...

Feel like these guys were on the verge of being really big at one point. I thought Valentine was going to be a big hit for them but it didn't quite catch on and then the third album seemed to completely destroy their career. Shame as the first album is really solid and Valentine still sounds like a classic to me.

they ditched their producer who was the most important member of the band imo

hey! Yeah, I just listened to this for the first time in nearly 10 years on the strength of this thread. Had p much the same experience as Roxy. Thought I was gonna be ~over them~ but was surprised at how much it held up and how much I still loved them. My love of this band was very much a time and place, but FSG is still a time and place that has a lot of meaning to me. The guy's voice, the production, everything, yeah.

So I dug out the second album, and though it doesn't quite have the same punch to it, it's also a lot better than I remembered it. (I remembered it as Valentine and a bunch of filler, and me very disappointed that Lost In A Melody (?) wasn't on it.) But I did enjoy the whole thing, despite or maybe because of the whole "sounding like the 80s is really hip and fashionable" production on it? It annoyed, back in the mid 00s when everything went through that tedious "sound like a new wave record from 81" production filter, but outside of that context, it sounds more Delays-ish and less mid 00s fashion.

I am not going to besmirch my good pure memories by downloading the third album or whatever, since you guys seem pretty resolute in your hatred of it.

Third album blew. Fourth album was them being a good band (with their original producer) again.

Everything's the Rush is not bad at all. there are some good songs on there and i feel was overlooked at the time. the next album Star Tiger Star Ariel was not good.

so i disagree with Johnny.

Hmmmmmm. I might investigate the one with their original producer if I get a chance.

Looks like they lost most of their fan base after the third album.

Faded Seaside Glamour (April 2004) – UK #17
You See Colours (March 2006) – UK #24
Everything's the Rush (May 2008) - UK #26
Star Tiger, Star Ariel (June 2010)- UK #107

Had no idea it did that badly.

Greg Gilbert, the singer in Delays, is very ill with Cancer right now, and his fiancee has just put up a gofundme as there is no treatment available for him on the NHS

https://www.gofundme.com/give4greg

Delays are not really in the public eye right now, but I think there are plenty of people out there who have fond memories of Long Time Coming / Nearer Than Heaven / etc. and would like to help out, so if anyone knows how to spread the word further, it would be very much welcomed.

this fucking sucks, 2016 can't end fast enough. still love the first three albums and really ended up enjoying Everything's the Rush, going to dig that one out tomorrow. could not get into their last album Star Tiger, Star Ariel though i did try.

https://open.spotify.com/track/1UgMhIKuVfY11RzB5jeF80

this guy is a dead ringer for greg

Greg Gilbert, singer / guitar player with the band Delays, and fine artist, aged 45.

― edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length),

fuck cancer.

r.i.p.

My brother @GregDelays x pic.twitter.com/GMUM1pe3SK

— Aaron Gilbert (@AaronDelays) September 30, 2021

Yes, fuck cancer.

Greg was a friend - not a particularly close friend, but still just one of the most talented and most kind people I've ever known (he was also a brilliant artist) - I haven't actually seen him in more than 15 years, but unlike many people I would consider much closer friends, we kept in touch on social media even while he was so ill. We all knew this was coming for such a long time - he ever published a pamphlet about dying three whole years ago - but it's still really shaken me tonight.

Hugs to you, Cam

One of my favourite singers. RIP Greg.

liked this from Tim Jonze in the guardian today

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/oct/01/greg-gilbert-delays-tribute

Interview with Aaron in the guardian, it's a good one.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/10/aaron-gilbert-delays-interview-death-of-brother-greg-gilbert