Delta Album Review

Shapeshifter have gained a reputation for energetic, upbeat and unique drum and bass since their first release in 1999. Each album saw them achieve greater acclaim and win a wider audience, culminating in 2009’s awesome The System Is A Vampire.

Delta is their latest release and it marks a departure in style from the previous albums. The album doesn’t seem to have the same drive to it. The big hitting, triumphant sounding songs are missing, in favour of a more laid back sound.

P Digsss still delivers his trademark vocals, but the rest of the music lacks that Shapeshifter sound many have come to love, to the point where some songs, like Little Flame towards the end of the album, sound like they could have been made by any number of bands.

When the album fires, it still manages to engage, like on the opening track (and single) Monarch, and Giving Up The Ghost, but all up I felt like this was Shapeshifter-lite, rather than a band trying to build on their past achievements. It is an album that would lend itself well to remixes I think, so it might be interesting to see what happens on the obligatory remix album that will follow at some point soon.

I’ve always thought of Shapeshifter as a live band, much more so than an album band, so hopefully these new songs translate well to the stage, and they manage to inject more energy into them.