Twenty years ago, The Delgados self-released their debut single. They’ve since become legends in the Glasgow music scene thanks to five acclaimed albums. Through their Chemikal Underground label, they've given acts like Mogwai, Bis and Arab Strap their first chance by releasing their debuts . Now, their fans are paying them back, as a few Shanghai-based Scots have organized a seven-city Mainland tour where they will back up the group’s singer Emma Pollock.
“It’s a wonderful thing to be coming over to China and I won’t quite believe it until I’m on the plane,” she says. “My friends are all pretty flabbergasted and some are wondering if they can tag along. A big thing for me are the train journeys themselves. I love trains and I hear the ones in China are quite fantastic.”
No VPN? Listen to Emma Pollock on Xiami.
Pollock laughingly recalls how a sake hangover ruined her first time on Japan’s famed bullet trains during the Delgados’ 2004 tour of the country, her last time performing in Asia. It was one of the quartet’s final tours, before they amicably disbanded the following year after the departure of bassist Stewart Henderson.
Championed by legendary British radio DJ John Peel, The Delgados never quite reached the global heights of fellow countrymen like Franz Ferdinand and Belle and Sebastian. Pitchfork described them as the “designated drivers of Scotish indie rock,” due to their commitment to building up an indie infrastructure in Glassgow. Their members remain active running Chemikal Underground and their Chem19 studio.
Pollock beams with pride when talking about The Delgados. “Every album is a window to a different stage of development,” she says. “We sounded like a very angular, spiky American college rock garage band on Domestiques, then quickly began to form a much more ambitious sound, working with strings on Peloton. That vision became much more fully realized on The Great Eastern, and I’m also proud of Hate and Universal Audio. The one consistency across all the albums remains melody and song – something that I still prize above all else when writing.”
However, she draws a line between the group’s discography and her solo work. She doesn’t perform any Delgados songs live “because they belong to, and were created by, the four of us,” and has been discovering her solo sound since her 2007 debut Watch the Fireworks.
No VPN? Listen to Emma Pollock on Xiami.
The disc received strong reviews, with Pollock touring across North America with The New Pornographers. Her sophomore disc, The Laws of Large Numbers, was released in 2010 and she’s wrapping up her long-awaited third disc with the help of husband, producer and former Delgados drummer Paul Savage.
“I’ve basically written this album from the ground up, and we’re working the basic songs in the manner that seems best,” she says. “Some are very pure with just vocals and strings, while others are almost entirely composed of sampled noises and drum loops, sounding a lot more playful.”
Pollock predicts a few of the new songs will make it onto her Mainland sets and remains surprised at the ambition of the tour, noting “we’ve never had the opportunity to sell records here before.” She’s glad to spread Chemikal Underground’s influence to these shores.
“The thing that has driven us has been our own gut instinct and ear. When you hear a new artist with a clear vision and idea of what they want to be, it’s incredibly powerful and compelling. We’ve always acted quickly to work with young artists that come up with a sound that we respond to and love,” Pollock says, citing the unlikely success of post-rock icons Mogwai as proof.
“One thing that encourages me in this age of commercialized R&B influenced pop is that diversity is still king. No one really knows what the next musical surprise is going to be and it’s quite often the fresh, different and less typical sound that makes an impact. Chemikal Underground is now well respected for its high quality diverse releases and our job is still to provide the opportunity for the highest quality, eclectic artists to find a route to being heard.”
// Mar 27, 9pm-late, RMB100. Yuyintang.
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