Delerium is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly[1]. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a broad range, including dark ethereal ambient, voiceless industrial soundscapes, and electronic pop music.
Members and history
Delerium has traditionally been a two-person project, but the only constant member throughout its history has been Bill Leeb. Leeb was a guest musician and early supporter of industrial dance pioneers Skinny Puppy, but after he left in 1986, he went on to create his own project, Front Line Assembly, with collaborator Michael Balch. Later, the two worked on the side project Delerium and released their first album, Faces, Forms & Illusions. After Balch left both Front Line Assembly and Delerium, Leeb worked with Rhys Fulber, and the two released several albums under the Delerium moniker; these years saw a gradual stylistic change from darker ambient to a more danceable sound. After the release of Karma, Fulber left to pursue other interests, and Leeb teamed up with producer Chris Peterson to release Poem. 2003, however, saw the reunion of Leeb and Fulber for the release of Chimera, followed by Nuages du Monde in 2006.
In contrast to Leeb and collaborators' other projects, Delerium has included several guest vocalists since the release of Semantic Spaces. These have included mostly women, such as Kristy Thirsk, Sarah McLachlan, Leigh Nash (of Sixpence None the Richer), Lisa Gerrard (sampled only), Jaël (of Swiss band Lunik), Camille Henderson, Nerina Pallot, Emily Haines (of Metric), Jacqui Hunt (of Single Gun Theory) and Isabel Bayrakdarian. Other than Leeb. only two males have contributed vocals to a Delerium album: Matthew Sweet ("Daylight", on Poem) and Greg Froese ("Apparition", on Nuages du Monde); in addition, the noted griot Baaba Maal was sampled ("Awakenings, on "Spiritual Archives").
The Mediæval Bæbes provided the vocal track for, and starred in the video of, Aria; the vocals are an adapted version of the vocals from "All Turns to Yesterday" on the Bæbes' Worldes Blysse album. They are also featured on two tracks from Delerium's 2006 album, Nuages du Monde.
Although it may be argued that Front Line Assembly has the largest cult following of all Leeb and associates projects, Delerium is undoubtedly the most financially successful. In addition to these two mainstays, related projects of the Leeb, Fulber, Peterson, Balch family include Equinox, Intermix, Noise Unit, Pro-Tech, and Synæsthesia, among others. In addition, in 2007 Leeb and Fulber collaborated with Leigh Nash under the name Fauxliage, also Rhys Fulber maintains his solo project Conjure One since his temporary exit from Delerium.
Music
Of Delerium's albums, Karma has garnered the most commercial success. Most listeners only know of Delerium from their work produced on the Nettwerk label, as they were relatively unknown in the pop-music scene before the release of Semantic Spaces.
Delerium's commercial success has hinged largely on the single entitled "Silence", which featured vocals by Sarah McLachlan. In 2000, three years after the original release of source album Karma, a number of remixes of "Silence", produced by DJ Tiësto, Airscape, Fade and others, proliferated throughout dance clubs; the interest generated took the single to #3 on the UK charts and gained considerable radio airplay for the song.
A milestone for the group came when they toured for the first time in 2003 (in contrast with Front Line Assembly, which has toured consistently throughout its career). Vocals were provided by Kristy Thirsk and Shelley Harland during that tour. In January 2005, Delerium performed at the One World benefit concert in Vancouver for the 2004 Asian tsunami, where "Silence" was performed live for the first time with Sarah McLachlan, who was also performing at the benefit.
Discography
Albums / EPs
- Faces, Forms & Illusions (Dossier, 1989), LP / CD
- Morpheus (Dossier, 1989), LP / CD
- Syrophenikan (Dossier, 1990), LP / CD
- Stone Tower (Dossier, 1991), LP / CD
- Euphoric (Third Mind, 1991), EP / CD
- Spiritual Archives (Dossier, 1991), CD
- Spheres (Dossier, 1994), CD
- Spheres 2 (Dossier, 1994), CD
- Semantic Spaces (Nettwerk, 1994), CD
- Karma (Nettwerk, 1997), CD
- Karma (w / bonus disc) (Nettwerk, 1997, 1999, 2000), 2CD
- Poem (Nettwerk, 2000), LP / CD
- Poem (w / bonus disc) (Nettwerk, 2000), 2CD
- Chimera (Nettwerk, 2003), CD
- Chimera (w / bonus disc) (Nettwerk, 2003), 2CD
- Nuages du Monde (Nettwerk, 2006), CD (October 3)
Singles
- "Flowers Become Screens" (Nettwerk, 1994), CDS
- "Incantation" (Nettwerk, 1994), 12"
- "Euphoria (Firefly)" Feat. Jacqui Hunt (Nettwerk, 1997), CDS
- "Duende" (Nettwerk, 1997), CDS
- "Silence" Feat. Sarah McLachlan (Nettwerk, 1999, 2000), CDS
- "Heaven's Earth" (Nettwerk, 2000), CDS
- "Innocente" (Nettwerk, 2001), CDS
- "Underwater" (Nettwerk, 2002), CDS
- "After All" (Nettwerk, 2003), CDS
- "Run for It" (Nettwerk, 2003), promotional CDS
- "Truly" Feat. Nerina Pallot (Nettwerk, 2004), CDS
- "Silence 2004" Feat. Sarah McLachlan (Nettwerk, 2004), CDS
- "Angelicus" (Nettwerk, 2007), promotional CDS
- "Lost and Found" Feat. Jaël (Nettwerk, 2007), promotional CDS
- "Dust in Gravity" Feat. Kreesha Turner (Nettwerk, 2009), promotional CDS
Compilations
- Reflections I (Dossier, 1995), CD
- Reflections II (Dossier, 1995), CD
- Archives I (Nettwerk, 2002), 2CD
- Archives II (Nettwerk, 2002), 2CD
- Odyssey: The Remix Collection (Nettwerk, 2001), 2CD
- The Best Of (Nettwerk, 2004), CD
Online exclusive
Music videos
- "Flowers Become Screens"[2] (1994)
- "Incantation"[2] (1994)
- "Euphoria (Firefly)"[2] (1997)
- "Duende"[2] (1997)
- "Silence" (Airscape Mix) (2000)
- "Aria" (2000)
- "Innocente" (Lost Witness Remix) (2001)
- "Underwater" (Above & Beyond's 21st Century remix) (2002)
- "After All" (2003)
- "After All" (Svenson & Gielen edit) (2003)
- "Angelicus" (2007)
- "Lost And Found" (2007)
Remixes
Third-party compilations that include Delerium
- The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, 1998. Featured the song "Silence" in one episode.
- Brokedown Palace Soundtrack (Island, 1999), CD Prominently featured "Silence".
- Tomb Raider Soundtrack (Elektra / Wea, 2001), CD. Featured a slightly modified version of "Terra Firma"
- Best of Mystera (Polys, 2000), 2CD
- Doctor Death's Volume IV: The Marvels of Insect Life (C'est la Mort, 1990) CD. Featured the song "A Certain Trust."
- Faeries: A Musical Companion to the Art of Brian Froud (RCA, 2002) CD. Featured the song "Nature's Kingdom."
Guest artists / vocalists
- Camille Henderson
- Karma: "Duende"
- Emily Haines
- Chimera: "Stopwatch Hearts"
- Co-founder and singer/keyboardist of Toronto-based electronic band Metric.
- Isabel Bayrakdarian
- Nuages Du Monde : "Angelicus", "Lumenis"
- Jacqui Hunt
- Karma: "Euphoria (Firefly)"
- Lead vocalist from Single Gun Theory.
- Jaël
- Chimera: "After All"
- Nuages Du Monde: "Lost and Found"
- Of Swiss band Lunik.
- Jenifer McLaren
- Poem: "Fallen Icons", "Nature's Kingdom II"
- Canadian-born pop artist. This was her debut with Nettwerk.
- Joanna Stevens
- Poem: "Myth", "A Poem for Byzantium"
- One half of Solar Twins, an electronica group based in Los Angeles; originally from the UK.
- Julee Cruise
- Chimera: "Magic"
- worked with Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch, and Moby.
- Kiran Ahluwalia
- Nuages du Monde: "Indoctrination"
- Kirsty Hawkshaw
- Poem: "Nature's Kingdom", "Inner Sanctum"
- Nuages Du Monde: "Fleeting Instant"
- Singer for a number of bands including Opus III, Sleepthief, Pulusha, BT, Tiesto, and Mr. Sam. personal website.
- Kristy Thirsk
- Chimera: "Returning"
- Nuages Du Monde: "Self-Saboteur" (spelled "Self-Sabateur" on some releases)
- Karma: "Enchanted", "Wisdom", "'Til the End of Time", "Heaven's Earth", "Lamentation"
- Semantic Spaces: "Flowers become Screens", "Incantation", "Flatlands"
- Kristy also has a solo career and has sung for Sleepthief, Balligomingo, Front Line Assembly, D:Fuse & Mike Hiratzka, and Rose Chronicles.
- Leigh Nash
- Poem: "Innocente"
- Chimera: "Run For It", "Orbit Of Me"
- Lead singer of Sixpence None the Richer.
- Margaret Far
- Chimera: "Just A Dream"
- Matthew Sweet
- Poem: "Daylight"
- One part of The Thorns; also has a solo pop career.
- Mediæval Bæbes, The
- Poem: "Aria"
- Nuages Du Monde: "Sister Sojourn Ghost", "Extollere"
- A group of young women who sing Mediæval style songs in Latin, etc.
- Nerina Pallot
- Chimera: "Truly"
- Nerina has three albums, Dear Frustrated Superstar, Fires and The Graduate.
- Rachel Fuller
- Chimera: "Touched"
- Rachel has worked with Pete Townshend (of The Who, who also provides guitars on Touched) and she uses orchestras in her music.
- Rani Kamal (aka Rani Kamalesvaran)
- Poem: "Underwater"
- Chimera: "Fallen"
- Rani has also worked with Conjure One (Rhys Fulber's project).
- Sarah McLachlan
- Karma: "Silence"
- Sarah is an internationally renowned Canadian singer and songwriter.
- Sultana (aka Songul Akturk)
- Chimera: "Forever After"
- Sultana is a rapper from Turkey.
- Zoë Johnston
- Chimera: "Love"
- Nuages Du Monde: "The Way you want it to be"
- Zoë is a member of Faithless and previously worked with Bent.
See also
References
External links
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Delerium |
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| Bill Leeb · Rhys Fulber |
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| Studio albums |
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| Singles |
"Flowers Become Screens" · "Incantation" · "Euphoria (Firefly)" · "Duende" · " Silence" · "Heaven's Earth" · "Innocente" · " Underwater" · " After All" · "Run for It" · "Truly" · " Silence 2004" · "Angelicus" · "Lost and Found" |
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| Compilations |
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| Associated acts |
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