Greg Gilbert, the lead singer of Delays, has died of cancer aged 44. By all accounts, a hugely talented artist and writer, his illness had been known for several years.
There is a particular resounding poignancy because of the ethereal sense of mortality in Delays' two most well-known songs, the almost breakthrough singles 'Long Time Coming' and 'Nearer than Heaven'.
I loved those songs. I still love them. I remember first hearing them - on xfm, most likely - in those solid mid-2000s days of indie manrock supremacy, and they just sounded different, better than everything else. I a) thought that maybe they were lost classics I'd never heard before b) was pretty amazed they were by the same band, and that band was just a British indie band taking their bow.
At that point, I thought Delays were going to be massive, which didn't quite happen, who knows why? I owned their first two albums and enjoyed them but I recall vaguely a mid-afternoon festival slot on a windy day where their delicate sound was blown away a bit, and I don't think I stayed a big fan.
I've kept on listening to 'Long Time Coming' a lot though. It is, for the era, so incongruously sad and beautiful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqRnGdD_WV4&ab_channel=RoughTradeRecords
I'd never seen the video before. That's not a good video for that song, is it? Perhaps that's why it stalled at Number 16 in the hit parade.
Anyway, following Greg and his brother Aaron on twitter, and knowing his time was coming to and end, I've been listening to the albums again these last few weeks. They are really strong, particularly the second one, 'You See Colours'.
It's a fine legacy, deserves to be better known.
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