William - Slightly Delighted

It’s 20 seconds into first track ’Youngun’ on this follow up to widely acclaimed debut album ‘Self In Fiction’ and the drummer’s off on a bizarre time signature and the singer sounds like Thom Yorke on helium. Surely this is going to be a disaster, right? Wrong.

‘Youngun’ picks up despite a shaky start and actually forms into a half decent stab at frantic angular punk. Next track ‘Headscream’ is way, way better; the understated melancholy and melodic verses seem to suit the band, and as such the end result is something really rather good. ’Tacit’ is a rough little diamond, with an impassioned vocal accompanying a sole ukulele. It’s a pared down number which, along with introspective lyrics, shows an interesting and different side to William. ‘Midi’ packs a lot of punch in its 3 minutes, sounding like the older, bigger brother of the first track, it recalls early Radiohead and even verges into Muse territory towards the end when the pace is slowed down and the guitar is tuned into ‘space rock’ mode. Whilst ’Foreshore’ is a completely forgettable track and is the very definition of filler, (mini) album closer ‘Memory Net’ is quite the opposite and is an excellent exercise in the kind of epic, sparkling soundtrack usually employed by Mercury Rev. Again, the band, and the lead vocals in particular, sound so much more comfortable in this style than any other.

There’s a broad range of influences and styles on show here, and you get the impression that maybe the band are experimenting and testing out a few ideas. If William can hone their sound, the second album proper could be something very exciting indeed.