Devilishly manipulated experimentalism
Who they?
Taking their name from the deep sea diver in Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic drama ‘Magnolia’, Delmer Darion consist of the West Midlands-born, London-based duo Tom Lenton and Oliver Jack. Judging by their debut single ‘Wildering’, Lenton and Jack are two musicians that are set to push electronic music in some quite interesting directions.
Why Delmer Darion?
‘Wildering’ glistens with their own flavour of experimental electronica – warped, echoing, repeated vocals shudder against atmospheric drones and spacious textures that all come together and form a surprisingly poppy melody. They say the track is a “sprawling, industrial account of the death of the devil” and is inspired by a line from the Wallace Stevens poem ‘Esthétique Du Mal’ – “the death of Satan was a tragedy for the imagination”. Initially written as a ballad, ‘Wildering’ was then built layer by layer, recorded to tape, self-sampled and manipulated. “As we set out to write it, we knew that we wanted to structure the song in a way that would make it feel like it was decomposing,” they explain. And it appears that isn’t the only thing they’ve been working on…
Tell us more…
The single is the first fruit from an upcoming debut album, five years in the making. Originally recording two albums worth of material, they have whittled and refined their craft and will be sharing the results throughout the year. And pandemic permitting, you may want to get yourself to a Delmer Darion live show as well. The duo combine art and music, Lenton on drums flanked by Jack’s flashing modular set-up as his own hand-drawn animations engulf the stage. They say the devil works hard, but it seems that Delmer Darion work harder.
‘Wildering’ is out on Practise Music
