EP REVIEW: Self Defence – Delaire The Liar
London alt-rock trio DELAIRE THE LIAR’s last release, 2021’s Eat Your Own EP, showed a band assured of their themselves, writing emotionally fraught anthems that straddled the line between alt-rock, post-hardcore and moments of emo with ease, but its creation, and their writing style to that point took its toll. Songs were inspired directly by vocalist/guitarist Ffin Colley’s own experiences and carried more than a little personal trauma. Almost two years on, its follow-up EP, Self Defence arrives with the core sound intact, but they’ve branched out sonically again and this time they’re telling fictional stories shot through with glimmers of personal experience rather than the open heart surgery of before.
That isn’t to say it’s not as emotionally fraught as before; in fact, with opener Angel Number there’s a strong contender for one of the band’s most devastating songs yet, and one that tosses a sonic curveball immediately. Bassist Em Lodge takes the lead vocals for the first time in a DELAIRE song, a subdued but no less arresting start to the EP with just her and a fragile guitar. The emotion is palpable, cracks showing throughout the song but especially in the chorus of “You get what you give / And you won’t give an inch / Nobody’s going to hurt you / If nobody can get in”, regaling a tale of putting up walls and refusing to allow anyone else in.
Lead single Bite Trap follows, the difference in atmosphere like night and day; you can practically hear the pedal hit the metal once the chorus kicks in, as DELAIRE prove once again that they’re experts at crafting deft hooks. While it’s back to their more typical dual vocals, this still sounds like DELAIRE with a new lease on life, especially once their ferociously scuzzy guitar and bass tones hit like a tonne of bricks during the breakdown.
It’s exhilarating, and still only halfway through Self Defence; the second half kicks off with All Your Labour, a high energy punk-flecked number that regales a tale of abject desperation (“They took everything away from me / I remember every anniversary”) that culminates in a bank robbery. Forebodies, on the other hand, opens with a pulsing bass, entwined vocals between Colley and Lodge and a churning verse that erupts into a towering chorus. While they’re not as surprising as Angel Number, it’s still clear this is a refinement of the DELAIRE sound, one that pushes each element a little further from where they were on Eat Your Own.
Thematically, while these may be fictional tales on the surface, the overall shape is one of how far people are willing to go in self defence, from shutting others out to protect your own peace after trauma (Angel Number) to the loss of perhaps an entire home forcing drastic action (All Your Labour), one that’s still rooted in emotional trauma and explores these areas in a thought-provoking way. It’s yet more proof that DELAIRE are one of the most exciting emerging bands in the UK’s vibrant alt-rock scene.
Rating: 8/10
Self Defence is set for release on September 1st via Rude Records.
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