12

Delorean- Subiza

This album came as quite a pleasant surprise to me. Sort of like when you're at the cash machine and you're not quite as horrifically overdrawn as expected or when that film you've been thinking about just happens to be on the telly that evening. Yes, being neither a fan of 'dance' in particular, or indeed anything that resembles anything the least bit Hacienda-esque, falling in love with 'Subiza' by Delorean came as a bit of a shock.

Most things about the 1990's in fact make me cringe. The fluro-fashion and the side ponytails, the plastic, trance-fuelled, smiley-faced raving naffness of it all. However, this album seems to have gleaned the best from this archetypal decade of dance and weaved it betwixt the tasty, juicy layers of irresistible synth-pop. With a base sound very reminiscent of the likes of Animal Collective, the Spanish four-piece deliver the brightest blaze of sunshine that I've heard for quite some time.

It was leading track 'Stay Close' that got me wriggling on their hook as it was cleverly released at the start of the summer, the very thing that the song itself encapsulates. The infectious synth beat pushing the track out of your speakers instantly conjures up the feeling you get when you've just arrived on the first day of your holidays and you soak up your first hit of sunshine. You experience the haze of the heat and the excitement of fantastic times through the serene continental and predominantly instrumental-style vocals and fluttering key-chords. In a similar vein, 'Real Love' is the onset of dusk after a long hot day on the beach. Them Spaniards just can't stop with their holidaying can they.

The album has clearly been brought up on a strict diet of anthemic house music from that aforementioned decade of old. There's that unmistakeable utilisation of piano on tracks like 'Simple Graces' and 'Come Wander' that our forefathers would have raved to. Okay, I know it wasn't long ago. But most of them will certainly be holding down jobs and/or rearing sprogs rather than throwing shapes and glow sticks all over the show. The use of trance synths and experimental vocal samples throw to mind the spirit of a season in Ibiza and the height of the Madchester scene all at once; the likes of 'Infinite Desert' and 'Endless Sunset' tinkering with funky house and delicious breakbeats to create the most shimmering of sounds.

As the chilliness of the Winter months continue to set in, this album is one to truly warm the soul. 'Subiza' is a man-made summer awash with happiness to be enjoyed all year round.