Delilah // From the Roots Up

Delilah – From the Roots Up (Atlantic Records) If there was a new rulebook for the music industry, the old one made into paper aeroplanes and rewritten by a precocious 19-year old, YouTube generation lad wearing hoodies to board meetings, he’d be telling you that the way to break into the music industry is to do it the Delilah way. Bag a vocal spot with an established act (check, Chase & Status on ‘Time’), hang on the coattails of stars on the ascension by supporting them on tour (check, Maverick Sabre), write your own material and whore it out for free over the internet (check, her debut EP, ‘2-4am’), and perhaps most importantly, when you get those opportunities to show the world your big kahunas, blow everyone else out the water (check, every live performance she’s done that have left every other act trailing in your wake). Delilah has a super-cool vocal, a product of London town and music industry parents and a keen ear for songwriting too. The album encompasses the tracks that have worked their way into our psyche already, ‘Go’, ‘Breathe’, ‘21’, and the Finlay Quaye-nabbed ‘Love You So’. Making up the rest of the 12 are more offerings on the same soulful, almost trip hoppy vibe, with tracks like ‘So Irate’ having a playful intelligence that make it so much more than a simple songwriter debut.

7/10 Tiny Dancer