Delphic - Acolyte

Historically speaking, an acolyte is defined as a devoted follower or attendant, the term often carrying religious connotations. An apt title then for the debut album from Kitsuné-endorsed quartet Delphic, a band who blatantly follow in the footsteps – or simply worship at the altar – of a whole host of guitar-led electronic crossover acts. It’s clear that these guys consider themselves keepers of the flame lit by fellow Mancunians New Order, and carried more recently by the likes of The Rapture, Cut Copy and Friendly Fires. Indeed, even before a note has been played here, Delphic do a pretty good job of passing as the ‘new New Order’: sharp of suit and moody of press photo, this is a band who give their songs names like ‘Ephemera’ and ‘Halcyon’ and more than likely blew their student loans collecting vintage Eastern Bloc synths the size of small cows. Which they’re perfectly entitled to do, obviously. All that really matters is whether or not their end product is up to scratch. 

And for the most part on Acolyte it certainly is. Helmed by Ladytron and M83 producer Ewan Pearson, and mostly recorded in – yes, you’ve guessed it – Berlin, the album certainly carries an impressive sonic sheen. The sprawling title cut, in particular, is a thing of rare beauty: driven along by a strobing sample that washes in and out over the course of nine minutes, the song suddenly climbs aboard a towering keyboard build-up about six minutes in, and before we know it we’re taking Tony Wilson’s DeLorean for a joyride along the autobahn at 3am. Elsewhere, ‘Red Lights’ pulsates and flickers in a way that reminds Ragged Words of Swedish loons Lo-Fi-Fnk (in a good way), while ‘Counterpoint’ is the closest the band come to conventional indie, boasting a hook that should keep the Whelans dancefloor happy. 

There’s mediocrity here for sure. Album closer ‘Remain’ is a shimmering piece of Italo-disco that tries to tug at the same heartstrings as LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Someone Great’ (or even Junior Boys’ ‘In The Morning’), but ultimately falls short of the mark. The band, too, lack the quirkiness that made Hot Chip stand out from the crowd – there’s a clinical feel to much of Acolyte that suggests these boys might just take themselves a bit too seriously. 

Having said all that, this release comes hot on the heels of the band being placing third on the BBC’s Sound Of 2010 list, and who are we to argue with that? Acolyteis a promising opening shot, a debut that’s nothing if not accomplished. Don’t be surprised if Delphic pick up more than a few acolytes of their own as the year progresses.