Delwood – Delwood

Honest House

I really miss the heyday of the kind of muscular, sinuous post-rock that was plied by the lies of Shipping News and June Of 44. Thankfully for me, the twin bass guitar-led Delwood have stepped into the frame and their first outing is a real winner.

The idea of two bass guitars has me thinking firstly of Rothko and then of Girls Against Boys, but Delwood step well around the kind of sound those two very distinct groups made and head for something that chimes and tumbles, but is still insistent in its rhythmic propulsion. The songs are constantly on the move, unable to stay still, morphing lightly, gently evolving but prowling like a snake in the desert.

Opener “Hearts As Clocks” jumps straight in, the two basses upholding very different parts of the song but intertwining. The sturdy rhythm is joined by whispered vocals with the kind of growing menace that puts the listener on the alert. It is like a lit fuse, but with no idea how long it is before it meets the payload or whether it might just be a dud; it is this tension that runs throughout the album. Sweet horns courtesy of Clement Dechambre are at odds with the latent ferocity and the singing, swinging bass plies the middle ground.

It is the sense of anticipation that makes things compelling here, a creeping possibility of a contained explosion, like a box full of springs grinding and straining awaiting a release that may never come. The texture and tone of the bass on “Ultimate” is delicious and the supple drumming, always well weighted for the track, lends a sense of agility, reining in the howling guitar and heavenly vocals while the random voices and throbbing bass of “The Sound Of Victory” brings a faded memory of The Jesus Lizard.

There are random electronics interspersed in part of “The Sequence Of Facts” from keyboard whizz Vincent O, the majestic pressure of which reminded me of some of the longer and more abstract elements of much-missed San Diego band Physics, while “Parallax” is all tense and terse post-hardcore, but constantly searching for a new route, driving further and further into a bright but flawed future, always wary and always prepared.

Although the tracks on Delwood share an aesthetic, they vary considerably, with some staying instrumental while the vocal pieces veer from the whispered threat to hoarse-throated frustration, and they all have twists and turns, dips and dives. It is similar to that feeling of standing on a road in the middle of the pitch-dark night; you know a vehicle is approaching as you can see the lights, but as it moves around a bend so the lights disappear, then reappear far closer, their approach inexorable and their proximity palpable. Will it reach you or veer off at the last minute?

The album ends with the angry stumbling of “Lighthouses”, its split seconds of silence so emotive with the burst of voice breaking you out of any reverie. It is a compelling and dense end to an album full of light and shade, but filled to bursting with adventure and intrigue. Delwood is available on Bandcamp and I am headed in that direction now, so don’t miss out.

-Mr Olivetti-