Delta Sleep are making babies. They’ve conquered odd time, unconventional song structures, hazy ambience and seem to be on a neverending touring cycle around the sun. Now, as Delta Sleep stand live onstage at indie tastemaker’s paradise Clwb Ifor Bach in the heart of Cardiff, they’re one member down: bass player Dave Jackson is hereby occupied and with good reason, he awaits the birth of his baby any day now. Replacement secured and thriving, this Brighton-based math rock four-piece zip through worthy numbers from 2021’s Spring Island.
View To A Fill earns its jaunty opener colours with a restless groove and staccato notes which cut through the room’s measured bopping heads. Hotel 24 is restricted at first, by comparison, frontman Devin Yüceilsinging “if I was more constant” over an arrangement in which the band are irregularly more regular in their structuring until its final moments – at least where pace-keeper Blake Mostyn beats the shit out of his crash cymbal. Meanwhile, Camp Adventure has the audience more vocal than ever – it’s the only cut that made it onto the setlist from 2015’s Twin Galaxies, an album I’d have hoped to have featured more.
Before bowing out for the night, Delta Sleep’s penultimate song The Detail is one of the night’s greatest successes: guitarists Yüceil and Glen Hodgson’s lines weaving in and out of each other diligently, gaining momentum, brushing backs. For one thing, Delta Sleep are constant – modifying their sound slowly, introducing new parts that feel as though they were a part of the complete package from the very start, and then ditching them just as succinctly.
Those moments of surprise – the stylistic elements that carry through from album to album – when adapted live, are Delta Sleep’s time to flex their proficiency and turn that surprise into part of the existing landscape. And what a view it offers.
Delta Sleep, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Fri 16 Dec
words and photos EMMA WAY
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