Playlouder - Music is the Network

Upon hearing that Delays had left Rough Trade and signed with Fiction, many had doubts about the band's direction. Fiction being the label that had seen Virgin Radio-playlist-fodder Snow Patrol skyrocket into success on both sides of the Atlantic. Would Delays give up their fable-esque story telling in favour of a more commercial and, more importantly, in record company's eyes, successful style? Fortunately, this isn't the case.

Their third album, Everything's The Rush, seems to be an amalgamation of their previous albums, 2004's Faded Seaside Glamour and 2006's You See Colours. Gone are the more synth-driven melodies in favour of a higher rate of string and guitar based anthems. While synths are still around on some songs, such as Love Made Visible, the album's teaser that was released on it's self titled EP, and Girl's On Fire, they don't seem to overshadow the rest of the instruments used on the album, as what happened occasionally on the wonderful You See Colours.

Delays have a reputation for making songs that combine incredibly sombre lyrics with amazingly uplifting melodies, one song in point is Hooray, the album's lead single. For a song that tells the tale of Greg Gilbert's affliction with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), the song has the habit of making the listener smile, either with the music or the cheerleaders than inhabit the promo. But while the Southampton based band can make bewildering song combinations, their most successful and traditional ballad appears on their third effort.

Pieces is a reflective composition that has the ability to calm the listener in the midst of sure fire foot tappers like Friends Are False and Keep It Simple. It's brilliance relies on it's simplicity, anymore knobtwiddling and overproduction would have ruined this piece, luckily, that hasn't happened. While One More Lie In is a gorgeous ode to a loved one, in which the protagonist tries to uplift his suitor by having... one more lie in. While it's not the most lyrically adventurous outing for the four piece, it's charm simply overcomes it downfalls.

The last quarter of the album feels weak, underthought and trite. Jet Lag seems to be too slow and cocksure, as if it's supposed to be a successor to Hideaway, but with an campfire "let's all sing around and forget our troubles before we sleep" feeling. Meanwhile Silence pales in comparison to it's balladry bretherin. It connotes the feelings between a pairing that doesn't need to be indicated by using verbal signals, which, shockingly enough doesn't really come across to the audience.

The album is quite blatantly, on first listen at least, a sure fire festival album. Anthemic to it's last note, easily rememberable and pure summer music.

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