Noting the tenor of the times, the Delgados embarked upon a shock-and-awe 2003 world tour that featured a cadre of symphony musicians in tow. The critically hailed strategy seemed all the more heroic if you considered the Glasgow quartet’s shambolic beginnings as a lo-fi Sonic Youth/Pixies ripoff. (A reissue of the group’s messy 1996 debut, Domestiques, was easily one of last year’s most underwhelming archival offerings.) Aware that new times demand new policies, the Delgados aim to capture the hearts and minds of the rest of the populace by reining in the bombast on Universal Audio. Gone is the Flaming Lips/My Bloody Valentine wall of sound that marked 2003’s Dave Fridmann-produced Hate. In its place are more traditionally structured tunes that draw inspiration from Paul McCartney (“Get Action!”), Ray Davies (“Keep On Breathing”), Brian Wilson (“Now & Forever”) and even Squeeze (“Is This All That I Came For?”). Power-pop ditty “Everybody Come Down” suggests, improbably enough, a marriage between Let’s Active and the Breeders.
The Delgados certainly haven’t abandoned their inclination toward experimentation, daubing this dream pop with vintage keyboard sounds, backward effects and the stray trumpet or cello. But with the lens focused squarely on the alternating lead vocals of guitarist Alun Woodward and bassist Emma Pollock, Universal Audio is probably best characterized as a singer/songwriter album. It’s no less ambitious than Hate, but in its stripped-down temperament, it’s a far more intimate affair.
—Fred Mills
