dnews
3
does it rock? yea baby, yea!
*****
Q U O T E *****
"We're doing what ever we can ... to bring Jesus to these people"
Tim Jupp, delirious?
***** Contents
*****
Glastonbury Program
Glastonbury Appearance
Delirious? and Neil Morrissey (R1)
Radio & TV Snub Delirious?
Cross Rhythms 'Mezzamorphis' review
Find Me In The River re-worked
More gigs to come?
Official site re-done
d:end
*****
Glastonbury Program *****
DELIRIOUS?
They sell out everywhere they play. They've shifted a quarter of a million
albums in America, and had two UK top 20 singles. And you probably haven't
heard of them. But this is a state of affairs that won't last for long.
Aptly described as 'the only Christian band who are neither Celtic or
rubbish', Delirious? err more towards Radiohead than Runrig - their new
album, Mezzamorphis, is guitar music played with verve and commitment.
Come and worship, why don't you?
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*****
Glastonbury Appearance 1 *****
Delirious? took to the stage at around 12:15 and BBC 2's Glastonbury
coverage (running from 12 to 1 at the time) meant that they could be heard
playing in the background when they cut to the presenters talking live in
the BBC tent. Songs that were easily heard and recognisable included:
Bliss
Promise
Follow
Love Falls Down
Mezzanine Floor
Heaven
Sadly, delirious?
did not get played on the 11:10pm to 1:55am show,
although hearts were in mouths when Jools Holland started talking about
it being Sunday and all that and they'd seen the London Community Gospel
Choir and after that........they went on to Al Green, missing out
delirious? completely.
Early reports
from Glastonbury-ers indicate it was a fantastic gig, very
groundbreaking. Reviews to come on Spurious? - http://www.spurious.org
-
and we may even send one out in dnews.
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*****
Delirious? and Neil Morrissey (R1) *****
Presenter: Music fans from all over the world are currently making their way
to the Glastonbury Festival which kicks off this weekend. Amongst them is
a festival goer who will know how to behave badly, that's Neil Morrissey.
He's going there to catch up with some mates he met in Hollywood, a band
called Delirious? who sound like this.
[Short extract from Deeper]
Neil Morrissey: "I was walking down Venice beach, I was out there meeting
loads of people, movie people, you know. And I was walking down Venice
beach where lots of people, the joggers of LA, go out, and the skateboarders
and the cyclists. And two guys stopped me and said 'alright mate, great show
on telly at Christmas' I was completely shocked. It turns out they're two
members of Delirious?. They invited me out that night to a party with the
head of Virgin in America, Ray Cooper, in this mansion. So I went and rock
and rolled with the guys 'til about half past five in the morning at this
party, it was wicked. We're going to be at Glastonbury on the Sunday.
They're going to stay at my hotel in Somerset, we're going to chopper them
in and I'm going to introduce them on stage at Glastonbury."
[Thanks to Dave
Wood for transcribing this]
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*****
Radio and TV Snub Delirious? *****
Source: Cross Rhythms Magazine (http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk)
Date: June/July 1999
Author: Mike Rimmer (used with kind permission)
Britain's top
CCM band Delirious? have cancelled the planned release of
the single "Gravity" in the light of what they see as the "prejudices"
of
the
BBC following the failure of BBC Radio One to playlist their intended new
single and BBC Television to feature the band despite a consecutive run of
five chart hits.
On the eve of
the band's tour to promote their "Mezzamorphis" album, the
band's keyboard player Tim Jupp told Cross Rhythms, "To get 'See The Star'
at 16 in the pop charts was really fantastic and again it's thanks to all
the people who have been supporting us for the last few years. But we've
struggled again with the radio. Our hunch is that there are a lot of
prejudices and probably a lot of cynicism there. What seems to happen is
that people have a pre-conceived idea about what we're doing and even what
we're like and what the music's like. The best way to overcome that is to
meet these people personally. We're trying to do our best to meet the
Radio One people, the producers and DJs."
The new single
was delivered to radio in early May but the band continued
to encounter the same difficulties. The band have enjoyed numerous TV
appearances with the release of "See The Star" but an appearance on
Top Of
The Pops has eluded them making Delirious? the only band in pop history to
achieve three top 20 hit singles without an appearance on the show. They
are now considering trying out another song later in the year, possibly to
coincide with their Sunday night mainstage appearance at the Glastonbury
Festival.
In a series of
events that might amaze long time fans, Delirious? have won
fresh admiration in an unlikely quarter. Men Behaving Badly star Neil
Morrissey has become a committed Delirious? fan. Jupp confirmed, "We've
got to know Neil Morrissey really well and even though he hasn't got a faith
or anything, he's personally championing the band. He's into what we're
doing
and so he became our plugger visting Radio One for the day. He saw all the
producers. Everybody in the building wanted to see him. He gave them what
for and wouldn't leave the room until they listened to the record." Even
after such celebrity endorsement Radio One would not playlist "Gravity".
Jupp confirmed, "It's still difficult and people are shy to support us.
It
just feels as though if someone took the jump and supported us, the rest
would follow."
There are now
over 200 internet sites devoted to Delirious? but the growth
of their fan base has also brought criticisms. In response to some fans'
dissatisfaction, Jupp said, "We've had such an interesting mailbag in
response to the new record. Some people think if you haven't mentioned the
word Jesus, you have completely lost your faith. I think it's all in there
in those lyrics and I would encourage anyone to take time and sit down and
listen to what the words are saying and the whole spiritual emphasis and
direction of the record.
"We are trying
to make friends in areas where we haven't moved before and
sometimes people are quick to criticise us but we're meeting people almost
on a daily basis who have a measure of influence in the media or music
business and I think those relationships come because they're respecting
what we're doing and the way we're doing it and I wouldn't want people to
be too hasty thinking we're not out there trying to make a difference.
There are an awful lot of things that go on behind the scenes that people
don't know about and probably will never know about. It always comes up in
conversation! A good example is when we got to know Neil Morrissey. It was
a chance to explain our roots to him. We had a frank conversation with him
and he really respected us for what we believed and relationally we're
trying to make headway with things like that. We're doing what ever we can
to be real and do whatever we can to bring Jesus to these people."
"We do have
a heart to get the music out further than we have done. We're
trying every way we can but we know we can't strive for these things so
that it becomes the be all and end all. We believe that these things will
break out but we don't know how it will happen. You cannot plan for
something like the Neil Morrissey thing to happen but neither can you know
that things like that are going to do the job. We don't want to keep relying
on the fan base and presume on those people's support. Although we have
40,000 names on our database, it's usually only 25 per cent who buy a
single.
If they all went and bought it we could have a top five or even a number one
but you can't manipulate into that. We never wanted people to buy the music
because of the cause, but to buy it because they like the music. So it's up
to us to make good music that they like."
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*****
Cross Rhythms 'Mezzamorphis' review *****
The long awaited 'Mezzamorphis' finally hits the racks and the second
guessing, discussing of tracks heard live and pestering Mike Rimmer to see
if he's heard the album yet can finally stop! By the time you read this,
you too will have heard the album, and what a blast it is! The labour of
love of 1998 pays off, as the band take to yet another level and prove that
they have yet to reach their creative peak.'Mezzamorphis' highlights a band
in motion, changing and moving towards where they want to be. They've not
made it yet but this is a powerful step forward. Some may be disappointed
that there's no "Revival Town" or "History Maker" flag-waving
type songs
with obvious messages here, but instead the you can take delight in a pile
of excellent reflective, soul searching, honest powerful tunes. Honesty and
vulnerability pour out and two broad themes emerge. The first is the
tensions of the Christian's life being open to the pull of Heaven and
earth, and the second is the band's corporate and individual desire to keep
on the road and not compromise. These themes weave their way through the
lyrical journey that begins with the vulnerability of "I'm on the mezzanine
floor", and ends with the repeated worshipful praise "isn't He beautiful?"
The band's intention
of taking a CS Lewis approach - dealing with spiritual
themes but avoiding the language that alienates the ordinary person from
investigating - has been excellently executed so that these become songs
that get better with every listen, as you unpeel layer upon layer of
lyrics. The guys have always managed to write songs that tug at the heart,
and these are the same. Melancholy, emotionally and totally on target,
"It's OK" has me close to tears as I bask in its beauty. It offers
comfort
to the struggling and is destined to become a lighter-waving live favourite
with the crowd. The addition of the Sally Army brass section only adds to
the
poignancy. Another highlight is Stu G's "Metamorphis" which is built
around a familiar Delirious? descending riff but then soon strips down to
some soul bearing as Martin sings "Can I be somebody?" and explores
the
tensions of trying to find identity anywhere else except God.
Musically the
band have created an edgier sound that will stand the
scrutiny of the mainstream, and fans who have caught them live will already
be familiar with the driving "Heaven" and the punchy "Bliss"
with its almost
electronica influences, and its uncompromising declaration "I'm Not
Backing Down". "Gravity" is a raucous feast of powerpop with
one of those
twisty catchy choruses that won't evacuate your brain once it's in there!
"Beautiful Sun" is simply a delicate intimate love song to Jesus which
leads
into the jangly celebratory "Love Falls Down". I was actually in the
studio to witness part of the recording for the album's epic song,
"Blindfold".
It continues where "Summer of Love" left off, exploring the nature
of inexplicable pain on our human experience. Brooding musically, this
mesmerise masterpiece concludes that even in the middle of the pain,
worship is a valid response as it gives way to the repeated chorus of "glory
in the highest". Totally breathtaking.
The album's coda
"Kiss Your Feet" brings the album to a conclusion on a
worshipful note with its question "isn't He beautiful?" Given the
redemption and beauty of God that Delirious? have packaged in these songs
as a gift for a fallen world, the answer has to be an unwavering "yes"!
On
"Gravity" Martin sings "These are the days that we'll look back
upon when
we're old" and certainly "Mezzamorphis" takes the band to a new
phase
gleaming
with possibilities and wherever God takes them, it's going to be quite a
ride.
In "Mezzamorphis" they have an album that opens new doors and while
this
album is an absolute classic, I can't wait for what happens next!
Rating: 10 out of 10
[This article
is copyright Mike Rimmer. Mike Rimmer is the Assistant Editor
of Cross Rhythms magazine - check out http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk
. Used
with kind permission]
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*****
Find Me In The River re-worked *****
The surprising duet of Delirious? and Amy Grant to work together on the
Cutting Edge classic "Find Me In The River" was released on the album
"Streams: A Soundtrack of Hope" recently, but for those less than
die-hard
fans the track also appears on "The Cross Rhythms Experience 3", the
free
CD that comes with Cross Rhythms magazine. An updated version of the
classic, it introduces Mezzamorphis-style sounds with King Of Fools-style
happiness but retaining the Cutting Edge atmosphere. Amy Grant's
contribution is somewhat limited and she is barely noticeable for much of
the song, and when you do notice her she is on backing vocals. Delirious?
played the re-worked version of "Find Me In The River" on the Pre-Morphis
tour earlier this year.
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*****
More gigs to come? *****
The d:brief section in this week's Christian Herald says that delirious?
have 15 UK gigs pencilled in before the end of this year. Although it
doesn't say how many of these are Glastonbury/Soul Survivor-type things,
but this may mean a tour is on the cards. Such speculation is heightened by
looking back at the Big Breakfast interview where delirious? said that
they "may come back touring in the Autumn". Further wild and unconfirmed
speculation would indicate that such a tour would aid the promotion of the
next single, if there is one.
[Thanks to David
Brider for the d:brief information]
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*****
Official site re-done *****
d:vine, the Official UK website for delirious?
(http://www.delirious.co.uk)
has just been radically updated - however, it still requires Shockwave. The
shop now includes such goodies as the Mezzamorphis CD, reprinted copies of
White Ribbon Day, new T-shirts and the logos have been updated. 'Heaven' now
belts out from your speakers instead of 'Deeper', and the animation in the
top right now includes a screenshot of the 'Gravity' video.
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*****
d:end *****
Well that's it from this, the third edition of dnews delivered straight to
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http://www.spurious.org
- unless you really need socks.