Steve Marion’s newest release as Delicate Steve is a collection of sample-ready instrumentals all possessing pop appeal, moving from bright digital club ready efforts to swaggering buzzing funk with ominous beats.
Till I Burn Up was inspired by Dr. John’s Gris Gris where Marion misheard the lyric of “Tit Alberta” in “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” as “Till I Burn Up”, an easy mistake to make. While the record has a pinch of swampy spookiness running through it, the main influences are 80’s electronica and digital beats, augmented by heavy riffs and danceable drum programming.
The opening “Way Too Long” is a sparse grimy slow build with glam rock swagger before bird samples oddly end things. “Freedom” takes an industrial approach mixing in heavy bass and fuzz guitar lines against each other while the flip side “Selfie Of A Man” is pure pop bliss ready to go mainstream with a vocal from any up and coming singer.
The title track continues the winning ways and is the best of the bunch. Clearly inspired by Dr. John’s “I Walk On Guilded Splinters”, the main riff is layered with echoing riffs piled on top of one another all swirling together while digital keyboard lines get smothered underneath; when Delicate Steve goes all out the results improve. When things are more stripped down on tracks like “Purple Boy” and the lighter airy “Ghost” things become dull and slip into background music mode.
The party picks up for the overloaded ’80’s retro numbers, the big glowing dance tracks like “Rat In The House” and “Rubber Neck” both of which should have bright neon lights, spandex, and teased out hair in their videos, which would obviously be set in Miami. “Madness” continues the dance theme but takes a darker approach and more inspiration from the Manchester scene.
“We Ride On Black Wings” is the most transitional of the efforts starting ominously with a foreboding sense of darkness but slowly shifts towards a bright conclusion marking a successful musical journey. These twelve tracks are engaging and while Marion’s work will surely be sampled, used in film/video game/television soundtracks and repurposed going forward, as it stands Till I Burn Up as a complete record is a solid ride.
