If you had a weird, recurring dream in which Avi Buffalo were locked in a room with the Pet Shop Boys, its soundtrack would, I imagine, sound rather like Delay The New Day‘s opening track, ‘Who Am I Impressing‘, Declan Andrews’s sometime falsetto tones melding effortlessly with jangly eighties guitars and the warm glow of the synthesizer.
It’s an impressive start, and over its ten song run, Cardiff’s Red Telephone deliver the goods time and time again, the chilly Bunnymen style guitars of ‘Faithful‘ continuing the agreeable aural assault before the brilliant ‘Play The Part‘ rears its head. This one has shades of both Heaven 17 and Artery about it, perhaps even Foals, to an extent, and it’s undoubtedly an album highlight.
Even better is ‘What To Believe‘, which starts with the urgency of a Gang Of Four record but then somewhat unexpectedly (and delightfully) flirts with the sound of Scritti Politti – basically this is very intelligent songwriting with a bit of an edge but also a lot of heart, and fair play to anyone who can pull that off.
We’re halfway through and the pretty lumber of ‘Let’s Talk‘ lies somewhere between James and Belle & Sebastian, while ‘We Broke It Again‘ is more akin to the darker moments of Depeche Mode, with a ‘Barrel Of A Gun‘ feel to it. Then ‘Sentimental Dreaming‘ even manages to harvest together the sounds of New Order, The Beatles, Hall and Oates, W.H. Lung, Bill Nelson’s Red Noise, and Chic. It’s rather a wonderful cacophony of noise, and an arresting composition with a highly satisfying build and an expansive outlook. It kind of reminds me of something that might have made the top ten between 1979-1982.
‘Willing To Wait‘ is a bit like if The Undertones went synth-pop and is another highly enjoyable track, before ‘Leave Me Be‘ brings a haunting paranoia to proceedings, wearied and wuthering, if, indeed, you can apply the latter adjective to music. Personally, I think it describes the song perfectly, and then we finish with the title track, ‘Delay The New Day‘, which is surprisingly downbeat for a curtain closer, albeit no less effective for it. If anything, it’s the most dramatic song on here, which skirts close to Muse in many ways during the verses but perhaps most thrillingly, appears to show its appreciation for the sophisticated New Wave you would ordinarily associate with Sparks.
All in all, as the successor to Red Telephone’s 2023 debut, Hollowing Out, this is a beautifully put together collection of songs that ought to make everybody sit up and take notice.
The self-released Delay The New Day is released on 31st January.
