Delorean - Subiza (True Panther Sounds)

While images of Enrique Iglesias singing to Jennifer Love-Hewitt in the rain may forever tarnish the reputation of Spanish pop music, True Panther Sounds’ latest addition Delorean are working to restore credibility to the genre. And their third album Subiza does exactly what pop music should do, bringing together disparate influences in a move that both celebrates and transforms each individual element. In this way, Subiza lends itself a little too easily to a number of lazy comparisons, but to subscribe to such analogies is to dismiss the nuances of Delorean’s intricate sound. Yes, those languid vocal harmonies were recently popularized by Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, but Subiza’s accessible house beats and conventional samples make Delorean a very different band to last year’s indie success story. Similarly, classic continental club production saturates the record, but the four-piece still retain a traditional song-writing sensibility, with lyrical content forming an integral part of each track. Subiza comprises a band’s dalliance with electronic music taken to its next logical step, and will surely see Delorean impressing both dance and indie fans at a diverse range of festivals in the future.

My diction so far could well suggest that Subiza is a record that looks to the past, or even one that is perhaps a little bit predictable. But while Delorean often draw from conventional, traditional and accessible techniques, the sources are unexpected, and betray technical proficiency along with a subtle sense of humour. Album opener Stay Close takes a frenetic piano loop and hi-hat sample that evokes the British club scene of the nineties, adds a charming vocal melody and makes the whole thing sound positively breezy. Tracks like Grow and Simple Graces offer the sort of feel-good hooks Ibiza DJs make careers out of. Slower songs like Real Love and It’s All Ours reveal an emotional potential that is often precluded for higher-profile, ‘ironic’ indie-dance acts that we’re hearing so much of at the moment.

Subiza’s timely release will ensure its place on many a summer playlist, and the album boasts enough potential for Delorean to outlast their try-hard contemporaries.


Words : Tegan Rogers