Delays - Love Made Visible EP Review

Delays
Love Made Visible EP
Fiction
EP Review

Not so long back, Southampton four-piece Delays were being touted as the future custodians of British guitar-orientated pop. Unfortunately, and despite many attempts at trying, they’ve never really matched the greatness and cross-genre appeal of first single ‘Nearer Than Heaven’, and although this five-track EP does hold one or two interesting moments, it doesn’t really touch the iceberg when compared with that incendiary debut record.

The title track itself actually sounds like one of those songs that was cynically created to be funnelled through shopping centres up and down the land over the festive period, with several bell-like chimes in all the “right” places adding to the Christmas feel. Indeed the only thing that sets it apart from the cheesy standard fare wheeled out at this time of year are the luscious harmonies courtesy of Greg and Aaron Gilbert, which were always a focal point of Delays from the outset and undoubtedly the reason why the band received so much praise earlier in their career.

No, what you have to do here is get beyond the first two tracks and reach the glorious Cocteau-esque pop of ‘Slow Burn’ followed by ‘You See Colours’ and its intimate post-rave comedown feel to hear something approaching innovative, or indeed a timely reminder of what this band could be capable of.

Unlikely to set the charts alight or find itself played on daytime radio though it may be, ‘Love Made Visible’ at least sends out a message that Delays are alive and well, even if their progress is more of a tortoise plod than a hare’s dash.

Unremarkable then but worth a second listen all the same.

6/10

Dom Gourlay