Rebekah Delgado - Don't Sleep (Review)
Review by Jack Foley
REBEKAH Delgado looks set to enjoy a successful 2013.
Having shot to prominence in 2012 via her debut EP Sing You Through The Storm, which garnered support from BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music (among others), she now cements her fast-growing reputation with an eye-opening LP in the form of Don’t Sleep.
Recorded in a bedroom studio but with a polish that belies those roots, it’s a diverse collection of songs that underlines Delgado as a distinct and playful artist who defies easy categorisation or comparison.
Opening with the nightmarish Little Boy Blue (which led Tom Robinson to dub her “a female Nick Cave”), it then strives to catch you off-guard whenever opportunity allows.
Sing You Through The Storm attempts to find hope in despair and includes a children’s choir for its latter stages that really adds an element of charm, before a Dark Waltz interlude almost brings the album into classical music territory. It has a ring of familiarity in its waltz-inspired piano chords, but is very much its own instrumental too.
A little later on comes Menage A Moi, another of the songs that got her noticed, which is described as a rude but not crude ‘lady-rub-rub’ song. It combines French chic with playful pop to endearing effect and is another highlight.
The darkness returns on final track Vampires, which compares the sadness of those legendary immortals to some of her own feelings and weaves in some more imaginative instrumentals (strings, pianos, etc).
Sunrise, too, has a bittersweet quality a little earlier… beginning in stripped back, tender fashion and once again layering in the elements to beguiling effect.
While The Hunger That Never Sleeps combines quixotic, haunted elements with a foreboding quality reminiscent of The Velvet Underground.
Admittedly, some of Delgado’s music is sure to be an acquired taste. But that only makes her more distinct in our opinion, and more interesting.
Download picks: Sing You Through The Storm, Sunrise, Vampires, Menage A Moi, The Hunger That Never Sleeps
Track listing: