James Roberts & Delta

James and Patrick Roberts once formed the core of a pleasantly wistful group called The Sea Urchins before they mutated into Delta. This album was created in the knowledge that it might be their last will and testament, which may be why it succeeds where countless callow British rock groups are currently failing. It's classicist for sure, shot through with the influence of The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. In James' downright beautiful closing ballad 'I Want You', one can also discern the school of ambitious English balladry that peaked in '68: The Casuals, Love Affair, Barry Ryan. The impression of accomplished old-schoolery is only furthered by the dizzying string arrangements penned by Louis J Clark, son and namesake of the one-time orchestral chief of Electric Light Orchestra" -John Harris, Mojo
"'Sun Somehow' is blissfull, early 70s freak-folk raised in the mellow fire of LA's Laurel Canyon stoners. 'Anyway i lie' rides huge, sea-faring strings and Roberts impassioned, arcing vocal. 'If Time Was All' is high enough to veer right off the disc. 'Laughing Mostly' is Gorillaz wrecked on cheap wine, 'The Way' is so Paul McCartney circa 71 it ought to come with its own beard and farm attached". 9/10 - Rob Fitzpatrick, NME
"Delta make music that's sweeping, modish, soulful and undercut with desperation...a secret that's been kept for far too long" -James Oldham, NME"It is a work of some beauty" 9/10 + NME Album Of The Month - Ted Kessler, NME
"the Brummie defiantly imagines his solo album as a modern Jimmy Webb album propelled by a 21st-century Carpenters. Roberts has a distinctive sound but finds room for everything from dance-tinged sub-bass to fragile pieces in the mould of Nick Drake or the Beatles' In My Life" 4/5 - Dave Simpson, The Guardian
"'Laughing Mostly' evokes life on the breadline in Birmingham as colourfully as Love's Forever Changes does affluent mid-Sixties Laurel Canyon". Delta's playing is so in tune with their moods, it's as if they have special settings on their guitars that say "Desperation" and "Valour". The track sequencing is brilliant, with its tendency to offset a piece of crippling emotional honesty with an avalanche of psychedelic wig-out. 5/5 -Tom Cox, The Guardian