With their debut release All Over Again, All Over Again, the Exeter/Bath-based duo Delmer Darion pleased our ears with sparkling, sumptuous electronic music – sensitive synth journeys that are easy to write emotively about. The Emperor of Ice Cream followed, showcasing remixes and sampling ingenuity, injecting life and colour into a kind of music that can be quite grey and robotic. This summer heralds a new album from them and, ahead of that, they have released ‘Haze’, a new track featuring pop singer and collaborator Emily Burns. The release comes just a few weeks before their anticipated set at Poltimore Festival and provides an exciting taster of fresh material.
Fluttering and dainty, the track’s rhythm of crackles and pops gives a low-fi feel and creates satisfying texture. The pops sound sucky and abstract, but punctuate a fairly strict dance beat throughout, and are coupled with the vocal flight of Burns tentatively sighing, “You’re pretty, you’re pretty, you’re pretty”. Her vocals suit the song well; slightly dreamy, with the occasional quivering phrase, although at times they feel slightly dry and the melody is a touch uninspiring. The synth work beneath her is characteristic of Delmer Darion – walking the line between the ethereal and the emotional, as pretty as Burns’ subject of admiration, and the sonics offer a rich tapestry of unidentifiable electronic chimes and plunks, like dreaming of trumpets and xylophones. Despite the duo’s established sampling wizardry, the track feels quite self-contained with a deliberate pop focus designed to support Burn’s lead.
the track feels quite self-contained with a deliberate pop focus
The video accompanying the song really brings it to life. Animated by James Lenton, it’s 2590 pink frames of glitch-art inspired trippy, swirling faces melting and warping into charming and disturbing forms, distorted tears, diamonds, and Sylvia Plath quotes that pass so fast you’re almost warned against pausing to read them. A fantastic and intriguing piece of art in itself, it marries perfectly with the dizzy, glittering noises of the track. It’s certainly an exciting time to be following Delmer Darion, and the new album out this summer promises to be just as well-crafted, delicate and musically luscious as ‘Haze’. Keep your ears open.