dnews
sweet sixteen
does it rock? yea baby, yea!
****Contents ****
Furious? Offices Move
A New Year's Message
Planet Life
The Ghost Of Bono Past
A Conversation With Delirious?
Bliss
What's It All About?
Favourite Lyric
d:end?
****
Furious? Offices Move ****
hi, this is just to let you know that from 31st January 2000, furious?
records and delirious? can be contacted at the following:
FURIOUS? RECORDS
PO BOX 40
ARUNDEL
WEST SUSSEX
BN18 0UQ
+44 (0) 1243 558444 - phone
+44 (0) 1243 558455 - fax
+44 (0) 1243 558466 - ISDN
our email, info line and website remain the same:
info@furiousrecords.co.uk
- email
0900 8001000 - info line
www.delirious.co.uk
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****
A New Year's Message ****
Just how many reasons do we need to be cheerful? Not only are we here,
grinning at the start of a shiny new millennium, but the first Delirious?
single in almost a year is about to infect the charts - and it's a beauty.
Taken from Mezzamorphis,
their best-yet album, the chosen one is the classic
'ITS OK' and it's out on February 21st.
Already the d:buzz
is fizzing nicely and those in the know are tipping it to
be massive. This is Delirious? time and everything's in place; the tunes and
the vibe, the history and the future promise. Get ready for a wild one;
2000's going to be the ride of a lifetime and the boys have plenty of treats
in store.
As for now though,
just savour the moment. Perhaps you might like to do a
bit of waving of the d:flag, passing the vibe on and getting the single
knowledge up. There are also a few freebies coming your way: in the week of
release the band will be playing, meeting and greeting at a handful of
record stores around the country - check the other side of this for details.
Make sure you're there to collect the memories.
For other info
you can wise up via the Delirious? Hotline 0900 800 1000 or
here at the d:vine.
You know what?
This is going to be fun.
~ taken from www.delirious.co.uk,
this message also appears on a mailshot
Furious? sent out to their new mailing list. If you haven't received a copy,
you probably aren't on the new mailing list - contact Emma @ Furious?
Records on info@furiousrecords.co.uk
to be added (UK only). The mailshot
confirms the It's OK single tracks listings (It's OK, It's OK video, Come
Like You Promise, In Pursuit Of Happiness, In Pursuit Of Happiness video and
Jesus' Blood) and the HMV performances, the dates of which are available on
www.spurious.org in the dnews archive
zone. Perhaps the most interesting
thing about the mailshot is that it appears to have a still shot from the
forthcoming It's OK video, of a young, pretty girl staring at the camera,
covering her mouth with her hands while yellow lighting casts a warm glow.
>From discussion on alt.music.delirious, the video apparently features this
girl a lot, with shots of Martin singing, until the rest of the band begin
to play, and then there's shots of the band all playing. Indeed, a Spurious?
source said, "Most of it is of the girl and Martin with the band making
the
big appearance in the rising guitar break. Its not what I would say is a
riveting video but it does reflect the content of the song, which can't be
said for the majority of videos put together for chart bands."
> top
****
Planet Life ****
According to http://www.message.org.uk/wwmt/info/gigs.html,
delirious? will
be playing at Manchester Apollo in the Planet Life service. Thanks to
Stewart North for that one, although this has not been confirmed by Furious?
at the time of going to (metaphorical) press.
> top
****
The Ghost Of Bono Past ****
As if you weren't already stuffed full of reviews from delirious? gigs you
weren't lucky enough to go to, Furious? Records have commissioned their own
review from Clive Price and put it on d:vine (http://www.delirious.co.uk)
for you to read. It's also here to pad the issue out a bit:
Delirious? fill Shepherd's Bush Empire with their urban hymns
In the bleak mid-winter,
more than 2,000 rock fans warmed up by singing,
swaying and crowd-surfing their way through the last gig of the century for
Delirious?
They braved snow
and ice to pack out Shepherd's Bush Empire, London. In
return, their millennial heroes stoked up a fire with a dazzling display of
powerful pop.
Opening with 'Bliss'
(of course), the Fab Five stormed the stage in brighter
gear and lighting than a year before, when they showcased their dark,
sophisticated 'Mezzamorphis' look at the Empire.
That material
remains seriously weighty, dealing as it does with some deep
issues. But this wasn't a heavy night. As lead singer Martin Smith - clad in
seasonal red - confessed, 'I'm feeling really relaxed tonight - anything can
happen'.
He was right.
Early in the set we got a surprise blast from the past with
'Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?'. It was a stark reminder: here is the
band who clearly won't rest until they 'open up the doors' and see 'the
streets resound with singing'.
Like the ghost
of Bono past, Martin stepped out from the stage and onto the
shoulders of his audience, who lifted him above their heads like a scene
from 'Chariots Of Fire'.
That happened
twice in the evening - much to the crowd's delight.
Precariously balanced from his vantage point, Martin encouraged the
Londoners to sing along on 'Follow' and - later in the encore - 'All The
Way'.
There was a lot
of chat. Martin became a hybrid of rock and roll frontman
and music hall entertainer as he joked with both his colleagues and his fans
throughout the set.
Some bright spark
shouted out 'Cliff Richard!'. Martin responded by saying
'respect' - clearly a sign of solidarity for the veteran pop singer who'd
recently received a lot of flak for his 'Millennium Prayer' single.
A fresh song 'Show
Me Heaven' was presented to the crowd, who clearly loved
the chance to sample a gleaming new gem from the Delirious? vault.
Then it was into
'It's OK' - the forthcoming single scheduled for a February
21st release. With its dreamy chord sequence, the song was as beautiful as
ever. But on this occasion the band also slipped in the haunting refrain
from 'I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever'. Reading between the lines, the
band were saying that they hadn't forgotten their roots, and were still the
same old boys at heart.
Next was 'Sanctify'
from the 'King Of Fools' days. Then from the latest
recording came the delicately sensitive 'Kiss Your Feet'. It was a sublime,
reflective moment, listening to the melody and letting all that
pre-Christmas stress drain away while gazing at the angels overhead (no, it
wasn't an unearthly apparition - they're actually part of the Empire's
decor).
Could Martin have
been getting too relaxed? Was he in danger of losing the
killer instinct? Could the audience be lulled into a false sense of seasonal
stupor? We needn't have worried.
After the mellow
material, it was time to kick some - and the boys launched
into a blistering rendition of 'Not Ashamed'. This had the desired effect,
similar to igniting the brandy on the Christmas pud.
Even the more
'mature' members of the audience forgot themselves at that
point (I know - I was one of them), and an enjoyable festive frenzy broke
out everywhere.
The hits went
on - more tunes from 'Mezzamorphis', but unfortunately no
'Pursuit Of Happiness', which would've fitted the evening's fun atmosphere
perfectly. But Stu G was allowed one fit of frivolity, when he played 'We
Wish You A Merry Christmas' as a guitar solo.
Obviously inspired
and set free by Martin's bold excursions into the crowd,
some fans went mad and climbed on each other's shoulders, threw caution to
the wind and jumped onto the stage - or, much more alarmingly, removed items
of clothing and waved them about (only the males, I might add).
It was a wild, wonderful evening.
But just where
are Delirious? going? Well, there were some clues: no plastic
aliens being thrown around; a lighter perspective than before; a lot more
chat; a few more nods to the glorious past...but then this was Christmas.
Anyway, the boys
gave their stock answer tonight. It was summed up in the
encore numbers - they're on the mezzanine floor, but they want to dig deeper
and are determined to take it all the way.
Clive Price
~ used with kind permission from Furious? Records.
> top
****
A Conversation with Delirious ****
The following is an interview taken from www.musicforce.com.
Thanks to
Natalie for bringing it to our attention!
Few new artists
in the past several years have created as much buzz and
excitement as the British band Delirious. Initially known as the Cutting
Edge Band, the group was formed as a response to the worship needs of its
community in Littlehampton, England. The band's fusion of pop song structure
and biblically-based lyrics helped spark a revolutionary approach to
corporate worship in the U.K. and inspired Delirious to compose songs which
would soon reach an audience beyond the church. Lead vocalist/songwriter
Martin Smith and guitarist/songwriter Stuart Garrard recently spoke with
musicforce.com's Bruce A. Brown about a bunch of stuff, including the band's
new album, Mezzamorphis, and their upcoming U.S. tour...
BAB: From the
time you changed from the Cutting Edge Band to Delirious, you
felt that it was important to get your music into the mainstream shops. Why?
Stu: We felt that
since we were encouraging people to have an effect on
their culture, it would be hypocritical for us not to do the same. We think
our reason for being is not just to make music for Christians but for
everyone, and not everyone buys records from Christian bookstores.
BAB: King of Fools
was a substantial change musically, in that there were
more pop-based song structures and a few more musical chances taken. How
different is Mezzamorphis?
Stu: Mezzamorphis
reflects a band that is two years on from King of Fools.
Our songwriting and playing has developed and hopefully improved. In other
words we think it's more "grown up."
BAB: How have
you maintained community ties as you've been drawn away from
home?
Stu: By not being
away too long. We are all active members of our church,
and we have kids that go to local schools. We are very much part of local
life here in Littlehampton.
BAB: Do you feel
you've raised expectations that unsaved kids have of
Christian music, as well as what Christian kids think of Christian music?
Stu: All we are
trying to do is make the best music we can. Hopefully God
puts His mark of approval on what we do. Some non-Christian people
definitely like what we do on a musical level, which is fantastic. If we can
bridge a gap between the church and the rest of the world, then great.
Martin: I think
Mezzamorphis is an album that can probably carry the band a
bit further into having a platform to play in environments where the church
is not normally welcome. In that sense we're playing a small part in
invading the culture and changing people's perceptions of who God is and
maybe shedding a bit of hope in people's lives.
BAB: You've already
toured the U.K., playing many of the songs from the new
album. Have people's perceptions of the band changed? Do they expect you to
look or act like a "pop" band?
Stu: Some folks
wish we were still doing Cutting Edge, and some
wholeheartedly love what we're doing now. I think the majority of people
expect a show and that's the business we're in, so we work hard at putting
on an entertaining evening. If I were paying ten pounds for a ticket to a
concert, I would expect the band to act like a "pop" band on stage.
BAB: Martin, how
do you go about writing songs? Do you come in with lyrics
fully written and suggest melodies, or do you all build songs from the
ground up?
Martin: Normally
I'm buzzing all year on things, and trying to watch people,
read things, read the newspapers to get inspiration and listen to people's
conversations. I keep a little book full of lyrics, and draw from them as
the year goes on. It's only when we actually prepare for an album that Stu
and I will sit down on our own and really flesh the ideas out. At the moment
what happens is that Stu and I will get an arrangement, finish the song,
demo it and then as a band we will then thrash that out in a recording
situation.
BAB: Tell me about the recording of Mezzamorphis; where it took place, etc.
Martin: The recording
of Mezzamorphis started in a derelict old school, in
Ford, in West Sussex. We turned a classroom into a control room, and there
were some wooden rooms where students used to dine, in which we set up a
drum kit with different mike positions. We did the bulk of it there for the
first six months in between touring. In the end, we went to a smaller studio
in Ford just to finish it off.
BAB: There are
two songs on the Sparrow Records version not on the Virgin
Records version. Why did you choose to include those particular songs?
Martin: Those
songs are called "Jesus' Blood" and "Kiss Your Feet" which
are
on the Sparrow version but not on the Virgin version. Virgin felt that the
album as a whole was so powerful as it was that they didn't need any more
songs. Virgin wanted to include "Deeper 99," which was a remake of
"Deeper,"
because that may possibly be the second single in the US.
BAB: What's the story behind the song "It's OK"?
Martin: "It's
OK" was triggered by meeting someone in a restaurant in Texas,
a girl who had just tried to take her life. She had just come out of the
hospital and we were talking with her. She looked so forlorn, so empty like
the hope had been sucked out of her. Yet pretty too. I'd already written the
song, but this confirmed to me what the whole lyrics were about, and it's a
song of healing really to the broken-hearted.
BAB: You're finally
putting together a major tour in the U.S. When does that
start and who will be going out with you?
Martin: We start
in September and at the moment we've formally invited a
band called Switchfoot who toured with us in England. We really like the
guys and what they stand for. We're gonna try and do three trips in the
autumn to try and crack most of the country.
--Bruce A. Brown
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****
Bliss ****
Travis Kroeker asks, "Hi! I was just wondering whether you know who sings
that bit in the middle of 'Bliss', when it's just the guy singing the lines
"It's the simple things that satisfy, keeps my feet on the ground and my
head in the sky, etc.". It's doesn't sound at all like Martin. And just
out
of curiosity, and Canadianity, (I know it's not a word, but we can pretend!)
when does Tony Patoto sing?"
~ Spurious? says:
Stu G, the guitarist, sings the middle 8 in Bliss. He
normally does backing vocals, but gets a vocal airing all of his own here,
something which is continued in 'In Pursuit Of Happiness' when he sings it
all. As for Tony's singing, we at Spurious? reckon that it's his falsetto
tones that adorn 'Blindfold.'
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****
What's It All About? ****
Gareth says, "Thought you might be interested in what the listings had
to
say about the show."
11:45 WHAT'S IT
ALL ABOUT? (New Series) (TELETEXT) (STEREO)
Series in which young people get to grips with modern interpretations of the
parables. Gospel singers Ruth Lynch and Wesley Mhoria-Chaves investigate the
Parable of the Talents, with help from musicians Delirious and the World
Wide Message Tribe, and footballer Gavin Peacock.
~ Spurious? says:
fans' reactions to this will appear in the next dnews,
which will appear very shortly!
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****
Favourite Lyric ****
~ and sometimes old lovers are better old friends
and sometimes the sense of my life all depends
and sometimes these stories are sad at the end
and sometimes i think of you
~ "Interlude" by the five o'clock people
~ submitted by adam (no, not me, another one)
~ don't forget you can post me your favourite lyrics on adam@spurious.org
> top
****
d:end? ****
Only 30 days until It's OK is released.
'Nuff said.
Adam,
Adrian, Mike,
Mike, Scooby
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