Just in time for summer, Delorean are showing up with a new album’s worth of dance confections to please your ears and move your feet. They burst onto the music scene last summer with their “Ayrton Senna” EP, which attracted plenty of attention for its strong grasp of 90s house and techno styles combined with anthemic choruses that could turn any dance party from warm to white hot in an instant. Their first long player “Subiza” now trades on that same style as the Spanish foursome looks to capture even more hearts, minds and dancing shoes around the world.
If “Subiza” were just another upbeat dance record, Delorean might not be getting the attention they currently are. Starting out as your traditional guitar and drums indie band, they began to incorporate more electronic beats and keyboards into their songs and noticed they had a particular knack for it. Naturally then, their sound has been shifting further and further in that direction, to the point where it very much blurs the lines between dance, pop and rock music. There are elements of each, and even a little bit of hip hop, on “Subiza”, wrapped in a mixture of electronica styles that keep the tempo upbeat and fun. It’s that inability to place Delorean in an easily definable box that makers them so unique and worthwhile to listen to.
Album opener “Stay Close” hits hard from the get-go with some killer keyboards and an uplifting chorus that will stay with you for days. Followed by the 6-minute rave-up of “Real Love”, which takes on a slightly more hip hop flavor and throws in some helium-pitched vocals for added variety. There are some brilliant vocal harmonies on “Subiza” as well, and tracks like “Infinite Desert” and closer “It’s All Ours” sharply recall the genius that Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” had to offer last year. “Warmer Places” is a gem from late in the album, dialing in a hook that nearly overwhelms with Italo-house flavor. Compared to the “Ayrton Senna” EP, this full length doesn’t sound quite as big and anthemic, but what it lacks in bombast it makes up for in more carefully considered composition. The songs on “Subiza” also fit together better, despite the consistent changes in style. It’s all electronica in some form or another, and what some of the tracks lack in stylistic similarities they more than make up for in overall mood and tempo.
Above all else, fun is the name of the game on “Subiza”. Many will view it as a simple club record that will benefit most from being blasted on the dance floor. Hopefully some smart DJs take it upon themselves to expose as many people as possible to Delorean and their throwback electronic style. Yet the album goes so much deeper than so many realize, and the verse-chorus-verse structure on many of the songs deceptively turn them into pop hits without much prodding. It takes strong musical talent and knowledge to pull off a record this well proportioned, and Delorean just barely manage to do it. This may be a record that’s challenging to break down and describe accurately, but all you really need to know in the end is that this is a gorgeous album that will draw you in quickly and never let go until your body is tired from too much dancing.
