Published on Dec 21, 2000
Delerium is a collective of musicians who have been around much
longer than many music fans might realize. It’s also been some time
since Bill Leeb’s brainchild made itself heard, but in 2000,
Delerium has shouted as loud as their Enigma-like trances will
allow them, first contributing to the
Bounce soundtrack, then to
Christmas Songs, a compilation from Nettwerk artists.
Now comes
Poem, the long-awaited return of Delerium. While this is my
first full-length taste of their work, it proves to be good –
though best taken in small batches.
Leeb (who may be best known for his work with Front Line
Assembly) knows how to take a melody and wrap a trance-like beat
around it, creating something that isn’t techno or dance, but isn’t
alternative… or even classical, for that matter. In fact, to
attempt to describe the vibe that some of the tracks on
Poem create would be both unfair and inaccurate. This might
seem like a cop-out to some people, but it is truly something you
have to experience for yourself.
Poem pairs up Leeb and his collective of musicians with a
wide variety of vocalists – not the least of whom include Leigh
Nash of Sixpence None The Richer (“Innocente” – a track which is
good, though pales a bit compared to her solo effort on the
Bounce soundtrack) and Matthew Sweet, who surprises with the
gentleness of his delivery on “Daylight”.
Other artists might be more familiar to our Canadian readers,
but Mediæval Bæbes (“Aria”) and Joanna Stevens (“Myth,”
“A Poem For Byzantium”) turn in such wonderful performances that
American listeners (or anyone else, for that matter) will want to
discover other full-length works by these artists. Yes, it feels a
little uncomfortable at times to keep hearing changes in vocalists,
but it all washes out in the end.
There is but one problem with
Poem – and, regrettably, it’s not a small one. The music is
designed almost to work itself into the listener’s background, or
even to relax the mind. The problem is that the listener can get so
relaxed that they lose focus in the album – and when one does try
to pay attention to the most minute details, the disc tends to
drag. The one track that seems to fly by – the 10-minute “Amongst
The Ruins” – doesn’t have much to set it apart from the rest of the
tracks, and its minimalism is eventually its downfall.
Some people might look at Delerium and call them a clone of
Enigma. In a sense, that’s not fair. Though both groups borrowed
heavily from Gregorian chants (at least for one part of their
respective careers), Delerium seems to be the more pop-friendly,
working in more recognizable names. If only they could keep the
energy level up, though.