Life after death for Delirious?
It is ironic that although Delirious? tried for years to emulate their early UK chart success, their highest position came this Easter – more than four months after they disbanded. A joint Facebook group tried to get a Christian Easter number one single by promoting the band’s History Maker – and nearly succeeded, with the song reaching the number four slot.
But there is one final official release from the band: a recording of their electrifying final show in DVD, 2CD and Blu-ray formats.
Having followed them since their early days, we thought it a fitting time to flit through the band’s career, their break-up and their future plans. Front man Martin Smith gives most of the answers and guitarist Stu Garrard chips in.
The band must have learned a lot in 17 years. If you could travel back through time, what would you tell your younger self in the days when you were known simply as the Cutting Edge band, playing for a monthly event on the south coast?
“I would say to myself, ’Know the vision, and stick to it.’” Smith replies. “That’s something that, as you grow and develop and go through life, is a key to everything.”
Does that imply that you lost the vision at some point, or that it wasn’t shaped at the start?
“No, I think it’s always been shaped. I don’t think I’m the right person to ask about whether we wavered from it. I think we were pretty faithful to always seeing God touch people through the music. We always endeavoured to do that.”
No longer in your 20s, when you look over the catalogue, do you ever see some songs and think, ‘I wouldn’t write that now’?
“I’m not sure. I think that there was a lot of hopefulness – which I still believe is in me – a lot of optimism, a lot of faith.
“So a song like Revival Town, you could argue that was a naïve approach to writing a song about awakening and God visiting a nation. It’s like, ’OK, it didn’t really happen, did it?’ Nice song, but you’re a little bit naïve, a little bit young to understand the bigger picture. But I don’t regret that song, because when you look at a global picture, that has happened. You look at Burundi, look at the underground church in China, I think in a sense it is happening, but maybe not in London.
“I think there is a tension between writing songs that inspire people, but they can’t be so nonsensical that they leave people feeling a bit let down. But I don’t really regret any of those lyrics. “
Delirious? started with plenty of energy, but two-thirds of the way through there seemed to be a bit of a dip. [Bassist] Jon Thatcher once told me that ‘We got very good at being Delirious?’ Later, the passionate, justice-focused Kingdom of Comfort re-ignited the focus, but then you split. Was there more left in the band?
“Looking back’s easy, isn’t it? We could have always carried on and made more records, but I just knew in myself that that season ended for me and there’s a bigger picture. We’ve got lots of young kids at home and Delirious? isn’t the only thing. So you have to weigh everything up and say, ‘OK, I think I’m released from this,’ and then you trust God that other stuff will come.”
Garrard has a different view. “I definitely felt that we hadn’t finished,” he insists. “For me it’s all about the vision and the passion. I just had bags of vision left for what we were doing and what I thought we could still do. To be honest I was disappointed, very disappointed. And when [drummer] Stew left we all sat round and said, ‘What do we do? Do we call it a day or carry on?’ And we all wanted to carry on. It was a real shock when Martin came to us and said he felt it was time for him to leave.
“It’s a bit like having a car crash: you kind of cope in the moment. But we’re all adults and still full of love and respect for each other, so Jon and I looked into taking the band on and getting a new singer.
“We did go to America and talk about it a lot with folks over there, and a few names came up. We got to a point where it was going to increase the stress rather than liberate us and also we wanted to be respectful of the Delirious? fans and to Martin as well.”
Now that eyes are on the future, where would you like to be in five or ten years’ time – writing, performing or collaborating?
“Well, I hope it’s going to be all of those things!” exclaims Garrard. “Being restricted to the one thing for so long, I’m chomping at the bit to do everything. But I have got a bit of a game plan. I’ve got a new manager that’s based in America, and a new publishing deal, so I’m doing lots of songwriting.
“Our intention has always been to help other bands and pull people through but it’s not until something like this happens that you actually get the chance to do it.
“And there is a new band developing with me and Jon Thatcher, with a guy from Nashville called Jason Ingram and a guy who was in Sydney called Paul Mabury. It’s called One Sonic Society – OSS. We’ve been writing songs and recording. They’re all self-penned songs.
“The music at the minute is specifically for the Church. It’s got a vibe that is kind of Deliriousy, obviously because Jon and I are in it; but we want it to be really creative and pushing forward all the time, and they are great songs.
“I’ve got a collaborative idea, based on the Beatitudes, and taking the themes and creating a project around that. I would love to write with people like Ben Gibbard from Death Cab, Nick Cave – I’m dreaming out loud now, but that is what I’d love to do.”
Smith’s vision is more domestic. “I would love our house to be a base where people from all over the world came and there’s a lot of eating and fellowshipping and making music,” he says, adding, “I’d love to be writing songs with the next generation of people coming through, and helping produce their records. I’d love also to have my own projects and still be pushing the boundaries.”
The end of April saw the Farewell Show DVD premièred in London. The band supported themselves at the final gig as their original incarnation, The Cutting Edge Band, playing classics like Thank You for Saving Me, I’m Not Ashamed and I Could Sing of your Love Forever.
Their main set covered the rest of their seventeen years, right up to My Soul Sings, the final song of their final studio album. It was a chance to shine the spotlight on songs that had either not been given the prominence that they deserved (Inside, Outside) or had been out of the regular sets for a long time (Sanctify). Perhaps the long break is what made the magnificent Obsession such a powerful piece and a standout among a host of muscular songs.
On the DVD tour documentary, Garrard comments, “Where it happens is when we’re playing live,” and a palpable emotion amplifies their normal energy at the final show. It takes the DVD format to realise all that is going on between the band and the fans. Sometimes the audience is quietly lost in worship, at others they are jumping in unison.
One fan dances with such enthusiasm that Smith gives him the megaphone that has been part of the live show for years, noting, “I won’t be needing this anymore.”
Onstage, the story is told in Smith’s eyes, whether closed in reverence, wide in joy or damp with the enormity of the event. Their sparkle lights the room.
After the showing, I asked what he was feeling behind those eyes during the last show.
“A sense of loss… all good things come to an end,” he replied. “But also the anticipation of something new; the excitement of that; living with the emotion that something so great was about to start.”