Album Review: Old Man Canyon – Delirium

Old Man Canyon
Delirium
Self-Released
★★★★

“It’s about that moment in life when you have a realization that things aren’t how you want them. That inner voice that is always fully aware of what needs to change. It’s about the process of returning to a place of simplicity, where we are inspired to create and be something.” Ringleader of Old Man Canyon, Jett Pace says this of “Back To Start,” a monument on Delirium. The song is intimate and thought provoking because the questions are connections we propose time and time again throughout our lives. His delicate electronic pop is there to accentuate change.

Old Man Canyon – In My Head (Official Video)

For Delirium, change is at the heart of these songs. This is an album you make well after that sophomore stand out, not your debut. But for Old Man Canyon, they dive right into the guts of life. And for Pace to record these songs in his own space, they become that much more exposed between the listener and the songwriter. As lazy as these songs move, it makes you stop and think as you want to dissect Pace’s lyrics because on the surface, you feel like he is trying to tell you something.

And the music is just gorgeous. He knows how to work through some difficult entanglements and make it feel so easy while exploiting the essence of the pop beat. The breezy hip sway of “Always Love” or the interstellar uncertainty of “Tomorrow Man” crafting science fiction dance parties like Ballard was enticing late 19th Century humans with strange post-apocalyptic futures. You cannot help but feel the impact of Lennon (John, that is) from within Pace’s falsetto.

Like a photographer that is trigger happy, Pace constructed a lofty 300 songs and paired it down to a smooth dozen. Let’s hope he made the right choices. If not, then let’s hope a rarities collection will be released down the road.