List | D | Delerium | 'Semantic Spaces' CD 1994

Track:	Name:	Time:
1.	Flowers Become Screens	7:55
2.	Metaphor	7:47
3.	Resurrection	9:25
4.	Incantation	6:21
5.	Consensual Worlds	10:07
6.	Metamorphosis	8:26
7.	Flatlands	7:14
8.	Sensorium	12:04
9.	Gateway	8:06
	Total	77:25

Comments:

If the new style of Spheres annoyed many old Delerium fans I bet they went complete ape-shit over this one. This is a drastic departure from all the previous works of Bill Leeb & Rhys Fulber, although it has some references to older material, like older Delerium and some Intermix, though it has very little to do with their main project Front Line Assembly. This is ambient-pop in the vein of Enigma or Deep Forest, with a twist of their own. Yes, Leeb and Fulber are making pop music! This album even entered the Canadian top-40 and received quite a bit of radio airplay for the two pop songs 'Flowers Become Screens' and 'Incantation', making it the most successful project these two Vancouverians has ever released. A bit ironic perhaps, but hardly surprising if you consider the apparent lack of commercial potential in their other work. Still, even if this is a good album I'd prefer them to leave the old Delerium name alone and release this under a different project name. Pop music people tend to get so confused when I mention the old "scary" Delerium, and old FLA fans can't seem to grasp that Delerium now is a pop band.

I've heard an unconfirmed rumour (that probably is just bullshit or mere speculation, but still an interesting enough theory to voice) that Leeb was quite annoyed with the huge interest in Enigma (and to a lesser degree Deep Forest), saying something like "shit, we've been doing that sample-the-monks-and-exotic-natives thing for ages, and when some pop geek puts a dance beat to it it storms the charts". Thus, this album was created in a sort of back-lash state of mind, sampling both of the mentioned groups and more, but when it did unexpectedly well it was considered more of a real project. Or perhaps that's complete crap and they just felt like doing something different.

As mentioned above, this album contains quite a bit of Enigma samples (mostly drums) and Enigma-type sounds, and also some monk chants and exotic native hums and noises, some exotic percussive sounds and loops etc. It's all blended in a sort of New Agey dolphins-and-rainforest and etno-techno-ambient style with a pop feel to it, yet while being soft enough for pop music it's still too flipped out for normal pop songs with a few exceptions. These more normal pop songs 'Flowers Become Screens' and 'Incantation' employs the vocal talents of one Kristy Thirsk (of the band The Rose Chronicles which I've never heard much from). Yes, the new Delerium even has real vocals, and what vocals! Her voice is excellent, soft and smooth, yet strong and clear, almost angelic in its beauty. People have compared her to Sarah McLachlan, but since I know very little of her work (I have an .MP3 somewhere) I can neither really agree nor disagree. At least one other track ('Flatlands') has some Thirsk vocals as well, but there mostly "ooh":s and "aah":s.

Another track that surprised me was 'Consensual Worlds'; it's sort of techno-ambient-reggae, not entirely unlike some Leftfield I happen to own and like. There are even samples of some MC ragga-toasting a bit in a Jamaican style accent, but it's too warped to hear what he's saying and it's neither much of it nor very loud; it blends well with the music. Since the track is so long it puts me in a hypnotic state of mind, which towards the end bursts into a near audio orgasmic pleasure when the simple yet incredibly beautiful main melody finally appears for a mere few bars and then disappears again, leaving me wanting more. It always feels so good to hear it, it puts a silly smile on my face. Now that's the kind of effect I want music to have on me. Who needs drugs when there's Good Music? I applaud gentlemen Leeb and Fulber on a job very well done indeed. They've created a stunning piece of music.

In fact, this entire album (apart from some obvious Deep Forest rip-offs) is a very well carried-out mix of dreamy ambient, angelic ethereal and soft pop music in a most pleasing way. It's very different from the harsh industrial sounds these two men normally produce, but since I like different kinds of music I can really get into this album once I've gotten over the fact that the new and old Delerium are so different. Whaddayanow, maybe this album can act as a path for pop kids to discover the enormous and wonderful sonic world of Leeb and Fulber?

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