Review Delphic @ the Garage 7th January 2010

Electronic music with soul, that’s how the Manchester based band, who’ve come third in the BBC’s Sound of 2010 music poll, would describe their own music. With their debut album Acolyte coming out on the 11th of January, Delphic are setting out to tour the nation. And they’re not doing this alone: they have taken Mirrors along for the ride.

When the four piece enter the stage in their smart suits and take up their positions behind their synthesizers and laptops, the comparison with Kraftwerk seems imminent. But although they do show a certain level of German precision in their electronic craftsmanship, that’s how far the comparison carries. Mirrors’ music can be best described as a form of electronic pop noir, strongly reminiscent of the early ‘80s, when bands like Depeche Mode and New Order started exploring the use of synthesizers. With catchy and danceable singles as ‘Into the Heart’ and ‘Fear of Drowning’ they seem to be well on their way to do some conquering of the 2010-music world themselves.

Delphic have already gotten a head start at that with their earlier mentioned third place in the BBC’s Sound of 2010 poll, a position held last year by Florence + the Machine (now there’s something to live up to). Not that they seem in any way intimidated by this little fact, quite the opposite actually. It seems that the quartet, who are actually a trio but use a live drummer to spice things up just that extra bit, are ready to prove everyone’s expectations right.

They already managed to get some attention last year when their singles ‘Counterpoint’ and ‘This Momentary’ found their way to the arty and always-worth-listening-to Kitsuné Maison Compilation albums, something electro-pop duo La Roux managed to do a year earlier (Hey! Another comparison to a Sound of 2009 finalist, how much more promising could this become?). So this seems to be time for Delphic to cash in, and that is exactly what they did tonight.

Especially the aforementioned singles, complimented by tracks such as ‘Doubt’ and an epic over ten minutes version of title track ‘Acolyte’ are to blame for their live success. Delphic are not afraid to write songs that are ate least twice the length of a standard pop song, and when they perform their music live, they manage to add even more euphoria to their already very lively and energetic tracks.

Their live performance is certainly impressive. Unlike most bands whose songs are mostly based on electronics, and thus heavily really on samples readily available in their laptops, Delphic manage to really make their music live on stage. This is partly due to the complimentary qualities of the guitar and bass that strongly feature in the performance, but they also manage to almost remix their tracks live on stage.

Delphic appear to be one of the highly tipped bands for the new decade who are very eager to prove to all that the hype is absolutely true. And for once, I think I have to agree.