DELS

The second single from his forthcoming debut album finds Kieren Dickins aka DELS collaborating once again with Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard on a tune which throws all the rules about the correct structuring of a classic pop song out of the window, drags them back in through the backdoor and makes of them one of the most beautiful, funny and compelling rap records you’ve heard in a good old while.
The record begins with DELS dropping a collage of thoughts and images over Goddard’s chugging, squelching beat. With the second verse, the music changes, a more reflective, melancholy feel coming in as DELS rap resolves into the theme of dreams within dreams, the lyrics still funny, but more thoughtful and just as concrete in terms of the images they generate. Just when you think it can’t get any better, a steel drum starts syncopating the beat and the tune is finished by Goddard’s beautiful, understated chorus. Surprising, innovative and just plain different, you’ll be reaching for rewind before you know it. We hope so, anyway…
Goddard himself turns in the first remix. Orignally conceived as a revocal with new lyrics from DELS complemented by fellow next-gen UK rapper Ghostpoet, Goddard liked the new, melancholy feel of the words so much, he re-worked the music to emphasise this aspect even more. The results are spell-binding, a falling, stumbling ballad. Paper Tiger take the original and morph the rhythm into afro-beat-dancehall, pulling the beat around and making a sparse, effective re-work. Gwilym Gold (of Golden Silvers), meanwhile, turns in his Way Below Hell mix, upping the atmosphere even further with a version that creeps through a number of distinct movements while remaining chilling and unsettling throughout.
As if all this wasn’t enough, DELS has once again collaborated with US Design Studio to produce a promo video for the song that is a massive step up even on what they achieved with “Shapeshift.” Taking its inspiration from DELS second verse line “am I dreaming in colour or black with the white?” the video creates – with absolutely no post-production tricks - a world split down the middle along these lines. Rewarding repeat viewings, this is a truly outstanding video for an outstanding song.