After Delicate Noise’s debut album ‘Diversion’, I get the impression that the Chicago based act will have little trouble generating a fan base with the electro, dark wave, and/or post-industrial crowds. Production is tight and clean, if not entirely shocking.

On ‘Diversion’ melody rules over dissonance, and songs from the album are consistently catchy, and overall very listenable. There are some clear influences from the old masters of the genre, Depeche Mode. At Delicate Noise’s best the band achieves an almost Mesh-like quality; Mesh being perhaps one of the best bands in recent history to claim a Depeche Mode heritage. But whereas Mesh sometimes goes aggressive, Delicate Noise stays delicate.

This is perfectly suitable, as the general intent of the album would seem to be thoughtfully chilled ambient atmospheres, with a touch of melancholy. The album slows down especially toward the end, where vocals begin to disappear and the last three songs turn into friendly album filler, and sound unfinished, which was very disappointing given the solid start.

Minus a questionably bland project name, some questionably lame lyrical choices, and some questionably predictable sound sources, ‘Diversion’ is a pleasant diversion, one I would have no reservations playing as nice background music. Given a bit more energy, however, I trust Delicate Noise is capable of much more.

Author: VW. Published on: Sunday, November 12th, 2006.
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