"Delf weaves thick, dark, bloody universes in each song"

Review site: Angela Carter Society Newsletter

Review author: Polly Paulusma

Date: September 2022

The first thing you notice about this rich debut album of songs from Eliza Delf is the intense vocal performance, hotly followed by the smarting lyrics she delivers.  

A dreamlike quality clings to the production and the performances. Delf uses her ethereal voice to present sparkling, pure melodies whose varied musical references evoke diverse echoes from Bach and Kate Bush (in terms of the high register and  some occasional animal-like yelps and howls), but also this listener hears layers of influence from Emily Portman, Tori Amos, Lana del Rey, moments of Eels, The Violet Hour, All About Eve, and then she’s just herself – glittering, exact, precise.  

This listener is interested in Delf’s Cohenesque self-consciousness of her own process - she sings us through her songwriting itself (“As the chords in my head progress”) bringing us into the magic of her songwriting universe. This woman will not fall. A fantastic debut. 

This is an abridged version of a review of Into the Wilderness written by Polly Paulusma that appears in the latest edition of the Angela Carter Society Newsletter.  The full version is available to members, and subscriptions are available at http://angelacartersociety.com/.  Thank you to the Society and Polly for allowing us to use these excerpts on our website.

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