Francis of Delirium - Run, Run Pure Beauty

Having first arrived back in 2020, Luxembourg artist Jana Bahrich - better known as Francis of Delirium - quickly established herself as an evocative songwriter with broad influences and a real heart. Across her three following EPs, and 2024’s debut album ‘Lighthouse’, her powers seemed to only grow stronger, and now, with her second LP ‘Run, Run Pure Beauty’, she’s produced an album that manages to encapsulate both the foreboding strength and hopeful fragility reflected in its title. While ‘Lighthouse’ undoubtedly showed off her prowess for melding together sonic elements to produce a sound that felt modern and classic all at once, there’s something even richer and full-bodied about her songwriting here. Take the almost regal opening horns of ‘Aliens’, or the Fleetwood Mac-imbued swagger of ‘Higher’; the woozy, grunge-flecked Americana of ‘Little Black Dress’, or the quiet, finger-picked build of ‘Requiem for a Dying Day’; there’s very little that Bahrich can’t put her mind to and pull off with aplomb. It’s the catharsis of closing track ‘It’s A Beautiful Life’ that cuts deepest, though. A vivid, liberating offering, ’Run, Run Pure Beauty’ serves as a brilliant reminder that music can be the best tonic for dark times.