Yes, Greg Gilbert has an impressive voice: Earthbound, it has a grainy, adenoidal whine that suggests a less abrasive Billy Corgan or a less earthy Mike Scott, but when he heads for the upper registers, it sounds startling and strikingly androgynous. His voice may not possess much discernible grit or soul, and it may not be unique-- he's taking cues from Jeff Buckley and the Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser-- but it is still unusual and powerful, perfect for the Delays' dreamy pop. For better or for worse, the vocals are the most singularly compelling element on the band's debut, Faded Seaside Glamour.
Hailing from Southampton, the Delays were first incarnated as Corky, an outfit, the band readily confesses, that played run-of-the-mill acoustic Britpop. They regrouped as the Delays and purposefully distanced themselves from their former scene, eventually gaining more-than-modest success in England-- a top 20 album and tours with Tim Burgess and The Sleepy Jackson.
To their credit, the Delays try never to rely on Gilbert's pipes to justify themselves. They work to bolster their ephemeral sound with studied songcraft and an array of touchstones ranging from 60s pop to 120 Minutes alternative. The muted piano on "Bedroom Scene" recalls War-era U2, the melody and chorus of "Long Time Coming" late-period Waterboys. Greg's brother Aaron Gilbert programs the sampled steel drums on "Wanderlust" to serve the same purpose as the elaborate guitar feedback on My Bloody Valentine's Loveless.
The Delays' commitment to playing as a cohesive unit is admirable, if not altogether advisable: Despite some strong ideas and a few memorable songs, Faded Seaside Glamour remains notable mostly for the vocals: the album's ups and downs follow Gilbert's voice almost exactly, best when he's hitting high notes, mundane when he's not. Displaying a restraint that is perhaps not the best tactic here, he doesn't go all Mariah on every song, but the album's best songs-- "Wanderlust" and "Nearer Than Heaven"-- shamelessly push his vocals to the forefront while the band provide inventive, unobtrusive accompaniment. As Faded Seaside Glamour progresses, however, he tones down his performance considerably, which drains songs like "No Ending" and "Bedroom Scene" of their dreamy drama.
Nothing quite clicks as well as those first two songs, when the careening vocals excuse the gushy lyrics. Lyrics, obviously, aren't the band's forte, and Gilbert's falsetto usually obscures what he's expressing with it, which proves advantageous. The songs typically center around blotchy sentiment ("The air is thin and hard to breathe/ The sweetness that you lost to me/ Despite the noose around our kiss/ I try to tell myself this is/ No ending") or Hallmark philosophizing ("How can you grow old/ You were not trying?") that ultimately breaks the mood of the music.
Curiously, one of the Delays' best tracks doesn't even appear on the album: "Zero Zero One", a B-side to "Hey Girl", features no lyrics at all, just Gilbert oooh-ing and ahhh-ing around the upper registers while the band-- especially Aaron Gilbert and bassist Colin Fox-- break out the canned strings and the slow-dancing rhythm section. It's three minutes of atmosphere in search of a soundtrack, but it focuses so closely on the band's strengths that it gets them farther from their original Britpop and nearer to heaven than anything on Faded Seaside Glamour.
