Pop Vs Art
The Delays suck when they try and make pop music. 'Love Made Visible' is a boring synth-rock song that is only pleasing if you imagine it as some sort of lyrical joke, and I doubt very much that it is. Easy rhymes and the same old pop hooks that teenage girls fall for over and over until they listen to Sleater-Kinney and freak out into jaded adulthood.
However, don't despair. When The Delays toss off their label's contractual obligations and make a long-ass song like 'Slow Burn' that is free of the majority of the pop format's bullshit, they sound like an actual band. It feels like synth-ed up acid-rock in all the right ways. All they need is George Clinton's dead guitarist to come and play zombie music during the bridge and they'd have musical gold. GOLD! And to be honest, the Torchteam remix of 'Love Made Visible' is super-fun with fat-bass that is just goofy enough to make you want to dance while you're drunk, even if it is a little too choral. Dance-choral!? YES.
Unfortunately, the pop outweighs the art on this EP, and so the lyrics and musical experimentation suffer. Love hurts. Stuff goes away. Things are sad. Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Bridge Verse Chorus. Yay. The music is synth-pop, like a less-fun Bloc Party/Kaiser Chiefs. You can take your mom to the concert and she won't hate your guts, but your best friend who stayed up all night listening to Wolf Parade when Apologies to the Queen Mary came out will fucking kick your ass if you make her listen to it.