Delights’ vibrant indie ethos shines on If Heaven Looks A Little Like This

Arriving three years after 2021 mini album Cool Sports, the Manchester quintet’s first full-length record brims with confidence.

And yet, the 12-track project arrives as the product of some testing, and equally unexpected, circumstances. When faced with the search for a new practice space after their former spot became flats, the band uprooted to the Fresh countryside to begin the recording process (where hiring an AirBnB in another country proved to be an ironically cheaper alternative to options closer to home). With the realities of band life at the forefront of their mind, it’s the unison of these experiences that acts as a guiding thread throughout the album.

Signalled by the infectious pairing of hooky acoustics and diaristic reflections on “Silk Skin”, the record opens in true Delights style. With the initial sub-plot of love and relationships planted, other themes quickly come into play. While “Two Times Over” revels in the hedonism of being young and carefree, “Take A Picture” taps into a more delicate side to their artistry, allowing reflective storytelling to take reign. While some tracks delve into individual narratives, the band’s sense of connectivity remains.

At times a step away from their vibrant, guitar-heavy sound, the album finds some of its strongest moments as Delights venture in new directions. On "The Way Things Used To Be", what initially begins as a lone piano melody gradually develops over the course of the track into a moving crescendo of cascading instrumentation and soaring vocals.

It’s equally in the moments where Delights return to their signature stylings of huge, pop-heavy choruses that they come to life. Finding the band at their fun-loving best, "I Think You Should Know" leads with tongue-in-cheek lyricism: “What do you do for fun? / I’m curious if you swim or run?” Adam Maxwell pokes with his distinctively Mancunian twang. Meanwhile, "And It Goes" opts for a more rock-edged take, whereas "Hotel Bar" brims with the technicolour grooves of 80s funk.

As the record nears its end, "Adore Her" sees emotion-drenched leading vocals float above an atmospheric backdrop of pared-back acoustic guitars and echoing harmonies. Closing out the arc of the album with a lingering touch of tenderness, it’s a refreshingly honest sign-off from the five-piece.

Broadening their genre-bending indie ethos, without straying too far from the sound that fans know and love, If Heaven Looks A Little Like This secures Delights as forerunners amongst a new generation of Northern bands.