The thing that humanity clings to is hope. In the darkness, light will prevail. In uncertain times, prosperity will ultimately endure: without it, there is simply nothing. On ‘Blue Garden’, Delta Sleep’s 4th studio album, out 27th September on Sofa Boy Records & Wax Bodega (US), the band find themselves digging beneath the overwhelming darkness of the world to find just a glimmer of light - tying in similar themes across their expansive back catalogue to become what is perhaps their heaviest record to date.
‘Blue Garden’ was recorded at the tail end of 2023 at Daft Studios in Belgium with Mark Roberts (Black Peaks, Toska, The Physics House Band) after a year of huge tours across America, Asia and Australia. Where previous albums came together quickly, with all four members entering the studio armed with songs demoed, tracked and recorded live, this time the band started with a completely blank page.
They opted to approach new material collectively within the space of two and a half weeks, jumping at the opportunity to play with new instrumentation at their fingertips to introduce electronic samples and synths. Given the time to really hyper focus on the production resulted in the scope to draw inspiration from the realm of fantasy and the real world that has permeated its way into the band's sound both sonically and visually.
But it’s ‘Blue Garden’s’ lyrical themes which truly razes it into darkness. Underscored by the horrors unfolding in Palestine, it serves as a form of catharsis to a pure sense of helplessness. "So slowly, I can focus on my needs, to feel good in my body / Because in the end it’s all we got / As we watch the world burn, can’t you see that we’re burning" sings Devin Yüceil on ‘Slow Burn’, posing the question of how you come to terms about dealing with traumatic moments outside of your own personal sphere that you feel powerless and despair.
"It feels like there’s a grey cloud over everything that’s always in the back of your mind. There’s this thing happening that’s not right and it’s clouding any sense of joy or happiness and yet we still have to carry on with our normal lives," says Yüceil . "It’s about not knowing what to do and not knowing how to talk about it."
Throughout, Delta Sleep weave their way through moments of dark and light, interlaced with a sweeping ambience and complex tempos that are inspired by punk, indie and electronic influences yet reminiscent of the math-rock home they belong to. In true Delta Sleep fashion it’s structures and textures are moulded to their sound - on ‘Figure In The Dark’ it’s the crashing drums juxtaposed with warm harmonies that make it an emotionally purging listen, while the R&B infused rhythms in ‘The Distance’ helps to push this record past the boundaries of anything they have done before. On ‘Sunchaser’ the mood is brought to a heightened crescendo as gorgeous guitar melodies garner a sense of melancholic longing before making way for a chorus that dazzles to life like a beacon of hope.
Paired with the stunning album artwork by Daniele Castellano, who used ideas of shadow in 80s fantasy films and art like The Neverending Story and Peter Pan as a catalyst to capture how world events are casting a shadow of depression, terror and helplessness over us all; and the companion video to album opener ‘Dawn’, which is a beautiful video highlighting the plight of the Palestinian people while showcasing their history and humanity, puts ‘Blue Garden’ into real life perspective.
"Shadows are interesting. As a filmmaker you’re always balancing the interplay between light and dark, and particularly, the absence of light can give a lot of depth and contrast to an image. I wanted to explore that in a lyrical sense. It’s an abstract concept but we were trying to transpose those visual themes onto real life and to look at how they might be relatable within the world of politics," says Yüceil.
It’s this perfect storm of creating imagery in their sound that has garnered Delta Sleep a cult following. Take for instance their live album 'Soft Sounds’ which features intimate unplugged performances taken from their back catalogue, alongside a video series that was filmed over the course of four years around the world: in Paris, Tokyo, Turkey, Brooklyn, Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles.
In 2018, second full length album ‘Ghost City’ saw them approach their intelligent songwriting with guitar driven melodies over jazz influenced grooves surrounding the concept of living in a dystopian future where the world is ruled by vast tech companies. 2021’s ‘Spring Island’ proved to be an exorcising endeavour wrapped in sonic excellence. It touched on themes of global warming and the effects humans are having on the planet, blending their bleak lyrical content to sit on top of a bed of dizzying, uplifting and complex rhythms.
The result has been a career that’s on the rise. Having already charted a #1 record on the Bandcamp Rock Chart and gaining millions of listeners across the globe, the band are set to step out on the road in the US in May and October, followed by a massive co-headline run with peers And So I Watch You From Afar in the UK this winter, as well as appearances at Distrorsioni Festival (Italy) and ArcTanGent.
Like "listening to a soundtrack to some blissful utopian dream" as praised by Gold Flake Paint, ‘Blue Garden’ might be their most brooding collection of songs to date, but in all the gloom Delta Sleep signal a sense that joy will return and hope is lying in wait.
"Try to breathe, there’s no harm in waiting patiently / See you when the sun in shining"
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
