Representative Albums: "Faded Seaside Glamour," "You See Colours," "Everything's the Rush"
Representative Songs: "Nearer Than Heaven," "Long Time Coming," "Bedroom Scene"
Biography
Although they're quintessentially English, Southampton's Delays aren't your quintessential Brit-pop band. The darling foursome can avoid being hailed as saviors of pop music by NME simply because they lack swagger. But before the dual pair of brothers -- Greg (vocals/guitar) and Aaron Gilbert (keyboards), and Rowley (drums) and Colin Fox (bass) -- kicked against the decadent scene that ranked Oasis and Blur as supreme during the 1990s, they too were sucked in. They formed Corky, and the band's acoustic pop was briefly popular in and around their local Southampton neighborhoods. By 2001, Corky had gone by the wayside and the brotherly bunch formed the Delays. Sun-soaked, '60s-tailored rock melodies developed over a few years' time. Rough Trade's Geoff Travis caught on to this while catching one of the band's private shows in 2003 and offered the band a deal. In July, the Delays' saccharine rock edge of "Hey Girl" went Top 40 in the U.K. Shows with the Thrills, Tim Burgess, and the Sleepy Jackson followed shortly thereafter, giving the Delays a sweet spot among the indie press. "Long Time Coming," the band's second single, charged the Top 20 with a number 16 chart debut in January 2004. As the band hit radio, they also readied for the release of their studio full-length debut. In spring 2004 came the release of Faded Seaside Glamour, which sounded rather like the Hollies meeting the La's for a rainy Sunday drive while picking up the Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser for tea. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
Delays are an Englishindie band formed in Southampton, consisting of brothers Greg and Aaron Gilbert, Colin Fox and Rowly. Likened to the Cocteau Twins and noted for the lead vocalist's falsetto, they have recorded three albums to date, all receiving warm critical response, and modest chart success.
The band were originally formed under the name Corky, where they were heavily influenced by British bands, Manic Street Preachers and The La's.[1] The original line-up consisted of Greg, drummer Rowly, bassist Colin and lead guitarist Dan Hall, who left before Greg's brother Aaron was invited to join.
Under the name Idoru, they were signed on Blanco y Negro and released one EP with the label, Safety in Numbers EP, in November 2001.
They changed to their present name before signing for Rough Trade Records, and released their debut single "Nearer Than Heaven" in 2003.[2] The band's debut album Faded Seaside Glamour was released in April 2004, and immediately broke into the top 20 albums in the U.K. album chart. On the back of support slots of popular bands such as Franz Ferdinand and the Manic Street Preachers - whom they cite as influences, as well as their own worldwide tours, all of the band's singles have reached the UK Top 40 since their second single "Hey Girl" in July 2003.
The second album You See Colours was released in March 2006, and saw a breakthrough when their songs began being used as backing music on the football highlights show Match of the Day, and also commercially; "Long Time Coming" was utilised for a national campaign advertising broadband in the UK, and to advertise jewellery in the USA. The band were invited to play most of the major British festivals in the summer of 2006, and in May of that year, they also parted ways with Rough Trade by mutual consent, and signed with Fiction / Polydor in December. The music video for "Valentine" received regular play on MTV, and also gave them their first appearance on the popular Top of the Pops programme on the BBC.
After being dropped by Rough Trade Records, they were shortly picked up by another record label, Fiction Records. This was seen as a step into the mainstream crowd, as Fiction is also the label for many popular bands such as the indie band Snow Patrol.
Their debut release on Fiction, Everything's the Rush was released in May 2008, and was recorded over a 20-day period in Spain. The first single to be released from the album was "Hooray". This was preceded by an EP, Love Made Visible, released in November 2007.
"Keep It Simple" was the next single released from Everything's the Rush. The video for the single stars Ewen Macintosh who played Keith in The Office.
In October 2008 Delays released Lost Tunes, an EP of assorted covers, for digital download sale.
In February 2009 it was announced that Delays had parted company with their label Fiction Records after only one album release. They are currently in the studio recording for their planned fourth album, Star Tiger, Star Ariel, due to released in early 2010.
In the film Blackball the protagonist, Cliff Starkey, takes his girlfriend to see Delays; their single "Nearer Than Heaven" is then played when Cliff and his girlfriend are walking on the beach.
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