dnews 1
does it rock? yea baby, yea!

Contents
++++++++++
Introduction
Mezzamorphis
Secular Reviews
The Next Single
Mezzamorphis Tour
Summer Gig Dates
US Tour Dates
deliRINGous
Official Websites
Delirious? on the 'net
d:end

****** INTRODUCTION ******
Hello and welcome to the very first delirious? newsletter under Spurious?
control. This is an unofficial newsletter run by a group of fans - Mike,
Scooby, Adrian and Adam - and is designed to keep you in touch with the
latest happenings in delirious? land. While being unofficial, we do our
best do bring you the official word from Furious? Records. Of course, the
obligatory plug is that you can keep up with all this news as it happens
on the net at http://www.spurious.org.

As this is the first letter, we start by thanking Robin Coward for his
relentless running of d:news and his generosity in handing it over to
Spurious? control. We are hoping to send this letter out weekly but it may
end up more than that, or possibly even less. Whatever happens, it will
leave you knowing exactly what is going on - direct to your inbox. This
letter should be more regular and more in-depth than ever before, but (as
the very first letter) this one will be much more comprehensive than the
ones to follow, simply because there's a lot to catch up on.

> top

****** MEZZAMORPHIS ******
It's been a while since dnews was sent out, so let's start at the top.
Mezzamorphis, the second delirious? studio album, was released in the UK
on the 12th of April (and is released in the US this week.) After a hectic
week performing and signing in HMVs all around the country, delirious?
were proud to have the album chart in at no. 25, but an astonishing no. 3
in the Indie chart. According to Furious? "there were some big hitters out
there that week" but they were genuinely chuffed that there was such
support after two years away from the scene.

> top

****** SECULAR MAGAZINE REVIEWS ******
Delirious? got some major reviews in some of the most successful music
magazines, including the confusing Melody Maker review and the ecstatic Q
Magazine review. In fact, Q Magazine liked Mezzamorphis so much it sent a
reviewing team down to Littlehampton and returned with a two page spread
about the band - early indications show that Q Magazine were open-minded
and gave an excellent impression of the boys. Here are the assembled
highlights for your viewing pleasure:
________

BBC Radio 1's Entertainment News

Date: 25th March 1999
Delirious are celebrating their third Top 20 single this week. 'See the
Star' is currently at No.16 and confirms the band's status as the most
successful product of the UK's fledgling Christian rock scene. That said,
Stu G and Jon from the band are keen that people judge them for their
music first, rather than focussing on their beliefs: "Obviously, we have a
faith but at the moment in time wed like to major on the music and kind of
get a bit of respect for the music we make, just like any other band,
really", they told Radio One. "We feel that weve built up our following,
just like any other band. Weve been quite successful, having two Top 20s
and I think its starting to speak for itself. We hope that people like the
music first of all".

They say theyre benefiting from the massive Christian rock market in the
States: "In America its a huge industry - in the UK its not, which is why
we do have a faith and stuff but we want to make it the same way that
everybody else does and every other band does. So were going the same
routes, really". And they add: "Were very excited about the Virgin release
this year, and the way that theyre so keen to take it into the pop market.
So thats really encouraging".
______

dotmusic Web Site
Date: 21st March 1999
Delirious? See The Star Chart Commentary by James Masterton
Another act returning to hitmaking ways after a long period away are
Delirious?, last seen in the Top 40 in 1997 with their two singles Deeper
and Promise, both of which reached a rather coincidental Number 20.
Despite slightly more extensive radio support for this new release the
band remain something of an enigma, albeit one which is surely about to
turn into widespread mainstream recognition. The fact that they can go
away for two years and return apparently with their existing support still
intact is extremely encouraging.
______

Rock Sound Magazine
Date: May 1999
Heaven Sent by Nick Smith
Delirious? have had two Top 20 singles and their last album entered the
charts at number 13. They're British yet they've also sold 250,000 records
in the States. They've sold out Brixton Academy and Glasgow Barrowlands so
why haven't you heard of them? Delirious? are a deeply ambitious band.
Trouble is, they're also Christians. Shouldn't be too much of a problem
you'd think. After all, if they were Buddhists or Moslems and selling that
amount of records the British press would have seized on to them. Even
Satanists get front covers nowadays. Unfortunately coming from
Littlehampton and being Born Again seems to mean they're deemed uncool.
It's something guitarist Stu G accepts with a sigh. "It's frustrating.
We've skirted around the outside of the industry and been in the charts.
Having come from the Christian scene we've never quite made it. It was
always underground. I think the new album will change it." Indeed it will.

Mezzamorphis is a modern indie rock record that owes a debt to the likes
of Radiohead, U2 and the Manic Street Preachers. It's hardly like
listening to a Sunday sermon in a dusty old church. The problem is that
they haven't had a big record company to back them up. "We started selling
demos at gigs and selling one paid for the next one and it just grew,"
explains Stu. "So we're still all hands on but as we've got bigger we've
been able to employ people. Now we're waiting to find out what happens
world-wide as we've got a load of labels interested. We're now with Virgin
in America, but we'd sold 200,000 there before that deal." Was that just
through the Christian network? "Yeah, but it's more important for us to
crack it here. The music is more important than the religious background."

Listening to Mezzamorphis it's by no means obvious that the band are
religious but surely people can be put off going to see Delirious? because
they think it's going to be one big prayer meeting. Stu disagrees. "Live,
we have a big show with loads of images but they're inspired by the songs,
there's no hidden agendas, no subliminal Jesus on a cross kinda things.
We're selling out big venues so we're getting a much broader range of
people now. We're not trying to save the world. We're just a great band
and we want to entertain as many people as possible. It would be great to
walk out the door and hear someone down the end of the street singing one
of our songs." That's a dream that may not be too far away. Their single
'See The Star' has been picking up airplay around the country. It's also
deeply catchy and very uplifting. So are all the songs about being happy?
"Lyrically we deal with every day bits and pieces. On our new album there
are some quite dark things because dark things happen and we all have
tough lives, but if there is a message in there it is one of hope and also
perpetual change. The song 'Metamorphis' is about change, being pulled in
different directions which from our point of view is being pulled by the
Church or the mainstream." So are you all part of a Church? "Yeah, but
that's our personal thing. The band is more a business than a ministry."
It seems like business it ticking over nicely. It shouldn't be long before
Delirious? claim their rightful place as one of Britain's brightest new
bands. Go on, check them out, you'll be surprised.
______

Q magazine
Date: May 1999
"Second album from galactic Christian rockers. Faith well-founded"

Something of a rarity this, a Christian band who are neither Celtic nor
crap, but instead, enthuse over expansive guitar-pop and rich, hummable -
occasionally anthemic - melodies. The tricky production - absolute dead
stops and starts, little trippy background pops and whistles - gives the
whole thing a commercially necessary modern buzz, but it's never
predictable and the big choruses on Mezzanine Floor, Heaven and Beautiful
Sun in particular, where the Christianity is forceful rather than
force-fed ("Grace is my story / Hope is my song") are spectacular. Here's
a band at one of those critical times - units shifting nicely, plan
intact, horizon cloud-free - and the dense, ingenious Mezzamorphis will be
the album that makes them.
**** (four stars out of 5)
- Rob Beattie
_____

The Q Magazine article will follow shortly.

> top

****** THE NEXT SINGLE ******
After See The Star charted at 16 and Mezzamorphis at 25, delirious?
prepared for the sort of full-scale invasion that hasn't been seen since
William the Conqueror popped over the English Channel. Media copies of the
next single Gravity - complete with stylish soft plastic case and wingnut
and bolt through the CD - were sent out across the country and some
stations, such as London's X-fm, playlisted the single immediately - but
Radio One proved less than hospitable.

According to Mike Rimmer (UCB Cross Rhythms, general CCM bod), who gleamed
this information backstage after the Wolverhampton gig, "Gravity has been
pulled and won't be released at this stage as a single in the UK. the band
couldn't get radio one airplay even though various pluggers have had a go
including one celebrity plugger (more of that in a mo!). The band are not
going to give up but the release has been delayed for the moment while
they wait for a breakthrough. same goes with TOTP. Can you think of any
other new band who have achieved three top twenty singles and not played
TOTP?...One fan of the band is Neil Morrisey who single-handedly went into
radio one, met producers and browbeat them to try and persuade them to
back the band. All sadly to no avail! Interesting publicity because all
the producers wanted to meet him even though he was acting as a plugger
for the band. Even with this kind of exposure, there's still not much
support for the band amongst producers."

This has been confirmed by Furious? Records, and Emma @ Furious? told us
"we are definitely NOT releasing a single at the end of May [in the UK].
We are releasing Gravity in the States but not here. We will let everyone
know the moment we decide to release a single. At the moment we are
focusing on the album and the tour - these are both things to keep us out
of mischief for some time!! So any rumours you have heard, any emails you
have seen are not true, Gravity is NOT being released...nor is any other
song at the moment."

The line-up on the singles, before they were pulled, was a double CD:

CD 1 - Gravity
Gravity (video)
Everything (new song)

CD 2 - Gravity
In Pursuit of Happiness
In Pursuit of Happiness (video)

The video to Gravity is a fast-paced extravaganza, complete with spinning
camera-split screen fun. The video was paid for by Sparrow/Virgin so it
looks amazingly cool. Check it out yourself by visiting
http://www.hearitfirst.com - this video, despite being made for the US
market, would also have been used on the UK release. The videos to Gravity
and In Pursuit of Happiness were premiered on the Mezzamorphis Tour that
recently rocked the country - which leads me nicely on to the next
section...

> top

****** MEZZAMORPHIS TOUR ******
The Mezzamorphis Tour was the largest delirious? tour to date,
encompassing an extensive 10 mainstream venues. Reviews of various gigs
are too numerous to use here, but there are many up on Spurious? -
http://www.spurious.org - and on the other delirious? websites. Only two
of the Spurious? team managed to make it to a gig - Scooby and I (Adam) at
Brixton - and we were instantly recognisable with our five foot high
fluffy question mark and fake ginger goatee respectively. The boys managed
to squeeze in 19 tunes including the whole of the new album, plus the
brand-new 'In Pursuit Of Happiness' which was a 60's rip-off complete with
hilarious Monkees-style video that will have you in stitches.

Full set list

Bliss
Promise
Gravity
Follow
Louder Than The Radio
Mezzanine Floor
Love Falls Down
It's Okay
Beautiful Sun
Heaven
Deeper
See The Star
I'm Not Ashamed
Blindfold
__________
first encore

In Pursuit Of Happiness
King Of Fools
Metamorphis
History Maker
____________
second encore

Kiss Your Feet

> top

****** SUMMER GIG DATES ******
In the UK, delirious? are lined up to play the following events:

27th June
Glastonbury - Main Stage (be there early)

4th and 10th August
Stoneleigh 99

8th and 9th August
Soul Survivor 99
(Weeks B and C respectively)

> top

****** US TOUR DATES ******
(From the US official website)

Alive Festival - June 18th Canal Fulton, OH
Atlanta Fest - June 16th Stone Mountain, GA
Kingdom Bound - June 19th Queensbury, NY
Creation East - June 23rd Mt. Union, PA
Creation West - July 24th The Gorge, WA
Spirit West Coast - July 28th Monterey, CA
Six Flags Over Texas - July 30th Arlington, TX
Copps Collseum - Oct. 16th Hamilton, Ontario

> top

****** deliRINGous ******
Rather than telling you all about someone's delirious? website appearing,
disappearing or moving, simply visit the delirious? webring. Hilariously
titled deliRINGous, it's available at http://www.spurious.org/dring and is
kept constantly updated. deliRINGous is right on the 'cutting edge' of the
web - and as such it is naturally sponsored by Spurious?...

> top

****** OFFICIAL WEBSITES ******
To celebrate the forthcoming US release of Mezzamorphis - June 8th, people
- the people at Sparrow have updated the Official US Website
Mezzamorphis-style. Visit it in all it's glory at
http://www.delirious.net.

In other news, http://www.delirious.co.uk has been up and running for
ages, and has a helpful pop-up box for the Shockwaveless. Furious? Records
are addressing the subject of their website, with views to making it more
accessible to all.

> top

****** DELIRIOUS? ON THE NET ******
In addition to the official sites, there are of course several fan-run
internet things. Some, such as Spurious?, dnews and deliRINGous, you may
have heard of, but there are other places out there. The delirious?
newsgroup is available at alt.music.delirious and there is an unofficial
mailing list - subscribe by sending a mail to majordomo@delirious.za.net
with a message body of subscribe delirious, and post to
delirious@delirious.za.net WHEN SUBSCRIBED.

> top

****** d:END ******
That's it for this time. This is a bumper mail and dnews will not normally
be this big, but as delirious? continue to grow, who knows?

I guess that's why they use a question mark.

God Bless from all the Spurious? team,

Adam, Adrian, Mike, Scooby

> next issue