When a band loses members, it can be game over. For Deliluh however, it wasn’t. Relocating to Europe from Canada meant Erika Wharton-Shukster and Erik Jude effectively left the band. They were fundamental to Deliluh’s sound, and it’s remarkable that Kyle Knapp and Julius Pederson managed to firstly make a new album, and secondly make an album as cohesive, and powerful, as ‘Fault Lines’ is.
‘Memorial’ opening is reminiscent of the album version of Beth Orton’s ‘She Cries Your Name’. But instead of a catchy, and slightly glitchy, guitar the drones continue as a spoken word diatribe softly drifts from the speakers. It reminds me of when I used to drink. I’d be sitting somewhere engrossed in nothing when it suddenly hit me. I’m very merry. My head is light, but also heavy. The only cure was to go home or keep going with wild abandon. The same is true with ‘Fault Lines’. You either stop it now or forge forward.
If ‘Memorial’ was about emotional content, ‘Body And Soul’ is about sheer power. Everything about it is rippling. There is a gorgeous, disjointed horn line that under underneath everything. Its distressed. Pained. Primal. Sexual, but mostly enjoyable. Over this tittering guitar, scatter-shot percussion and vicious basslines run riot. Knapp’s vocals are just abrasive and terse. Never really giving anything away you get the impression that Knapp is knarked about something.
This feeling really comes to a head on ‘Credence (Ash In The Winds of Reason)’. Lyrics like “revel in the remedy” and “house that leaks / Windows that stain / I was there when the whole thing went up in flames” paint a picture that, well, isn’t that happy. Coupled with the driving post-punk backing track and you have the standout track on the album.
‘Amulet’ takes the album’s first misstep. A flat beat, that sounds like a demo setting from a drum machine, does most of the heavy lifting. About half-way this gives away to something more skittery, with ominous synths lurking underneath, but it isn’t enough. The damage has been done. ‘X-Neighbourhood’ follows the less is more approach, but actually delivers less again. ‘Amulet’ and ‘X-Neighbourhood aren’t bad songs, they’re just not very dynamic. I expect live they will really go off and the broody nature of it will grow to something spectacular but here it just doesn’t work. The songs are two-dimensional, compared to the openers. They don’t go anywhere, or do anything other than those 4/4 beats and basslines.
‘Fault Lines’ is a very accomplished album. When Knapp and Pederson get it right, which they mostly do, especially on the first three tracks, it’s a joy to listen to. However, when it doesn’t quite work it can be a bit of a slog. Saying that when it does all come together ‘Fault Lines’ is exceptional and shows that Knapp and Pederson still have plenty to say.
7/10
Words: Nick Roseblade
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