by Chris Hatch

Tributaries, streams, and rivers all merge to create one vast body of water on Francis Of Delirium’s latest single, Lakes.

This year’s All Change EP saw Francis Of Delirium use Generation X style alt rock as a backdrop to explore alienated youth, but, in a short space of time, Chris Hewett and singer-songwriter, Jana Bahrich, have shifted their sound to encompass more expansive themes, both musically and lyrically.

Pivoting around the idea that our lives are influenced by those around us, Bahrich sees herself as a lake fed by the people that colour her life. ‘All these rivers make up bodies,’ she sings over a considered intro that’s drenched in haunting backing vocals. It’s when Bahrich opens up her voice during the final third of the song, though, that things really start to take hold – a gorgeous swirl of crystalline grunge rock that feels something akin to Big Deal covering an early Mew track. Drums thunder, guitars chug, and Bahrich’s voice soars.

Like the searching, wandering streams and tributaries that flow towards the ocean, Francis of Delirium’s latest single grows in depth over it’s three and a half minutes, and explores how we are all greater than the sum of our parts. While still capturing the spirit of the 90s alt rock scene, they’ve managed to carve out a niche that is beginning to sound entirely their own.

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