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Reviews of Deliberate's Basic demographics EP:
"Killer debut from duo Christopher and Esther ... 'Kensington Heights' opens the set, rooted upon a sumptuous Europop underpin and simmering to a frosted dynamic that one minute mooches ominously, the next unfurls to radiate a curiously hospitable warmth, a canvas upon which Esther freewheels her almost detached third-party narration - fans of Cobra Killer, Client and Salon Boris will rightly swoon at the spectacle. The empty, almost monotone 'Gavin has some problems' is eerily oblique. Christopher's matter-of-fact delivery serves to deepen the feeling of unease, threaded upon a fragile, skeletal, ice cold and austere melodic framework that recalls Goblin/John Carpenter. The acutely aloof and antiseptic 'She could be persuaded', over on the flip of 12", is the release's centrepiece, courting a threadbare noirish exterior and offset with a buzzsawed fractured futuro-funk groove, delicately decorated with streaming cosmic swirls, mechanoid beats and Esther's clinical vocal dissection, that drawn together lavish the landscape with a shadowy Teutonic cabaret sheen. It's left to the parting 'Volunteer' lighten the mood - a kind of Cabaret Voltaire sampling 'The message' and Hancock's 'Rokkit' meets Yello, with Arthur Baker merrily dabbling about at the mixing desk. Ones to watch, we suspect."
Losing Today, September 2007
"Thought I'd gone off electronica, being a trendist and a Luddite who hates and fears computers. This four-song debut from duo Deliberate has, in its elegant chilliness, recharged my inner robot. Schematic and metronomic; sparse but lush of sound (tricky, that); spare but melodically rich, it's an effortless meld of precision laptop shimmer and old skool synth sounds. Old skool as in pre-rave Kraftwerk vintage - eg. those hissing syndrums: it's like suddenly meeting an old friend.
Actually I'd gone off electronica because it seemed to be polarising between glitchy obscurantism and horrible Shoreditch-centric amyl nitrate noise: a cruddy bass loop, a weedy guitar and a few inane slogans. This is deeper, richer - features clever, intricate lyrics that tell stories - witness the creepy 'Gavin has some problems', a tale of mental disintegration delivered with dispassionate spoken-word clarity by Christopher over a John Carpenter backdrop. (Neatly, the music also disintegrates at the end, washing into a metallic purr like the sound of paranoia.) Alternate vocalist Esther guides you through two bracingly cynical mini-epics of loveless romance with soulful restraint; there's a pre-dawn gloom in the air and it's great. Their lighter side emerges with an instrumental dedicated to Bomb The Bass - as if in impudent reminder of what's missing, not needed, there's even a brief burst of ... weedy guitar (sampled of course). Still, the cold glittering allure lingers."
Greville Wizzard, Robots + Electronic Brains, September 2007
"Deliberate is a female/male duo coming from Brighton and Basic demographics is their first EP. The 12" contains four tracks of good synthpop and the two sides of the platter sound different and present two different sides of the band's sound. The A side has 'Kensington heights' and 'Gavin has some problems', two really good tunes which recalled to me the best Soft Cell tracks - for the type of sound and how they are able to create that particular 'ordinary life's disasters' atmosphere transmuted into pop songs. Wives who lose their loved ones because of pornography or young guys who close themselves at home because they are obsessed by the vigilance of their place are the themes of the songs. Side B contains 'She could be persuaded' and 'Volunteer'. This side sounds a little different from the A side because of the drum sounds (the difference you can have between a Roland TR606 and a 909)."
Maurizio Pustianaz, Chain DLK, October 2007 [4 stars out of 5]
Reviews of Deliberate:
"Kraftwerk are the ghost in Deliberate’s shell and it’s the rumble of the Autobahn in the background that serves as suitable setting for a reanimation of a clinically executed, deftly paced ep of icy, inhuman sounds. Like a stripped and slowed down Depeche Mode, songs like 'Sloanestruck' and 'Gavin has some problems' crawl across the speaker in a frigid half-light, exuding a similar air to Black Box Recorder tunes with the deadpan delivery of main man Christopher."
The Brighton Source, February 2007
"Delightfully Kraftwerk- and 1980s-influenced electronica. Up to three keyboards and laptop power the synthesised parts. Light percussive tickles, programmed bleeps, deafening organ, budum budum keyboards, space squeals and shimmering dynamic harmonics. Live drums, when present, focus on single cymbal and snare tapping. Vocals switch from bright female melodic twisting [to] dark male poetry that is almost Teutonic. Lyrics seem cleverly inventive ... A fine balance between early Human League and John Foxx ... Deliberate are making electronica as it has not been made for some time, no guitars, no samples of guitars, and no ecstasy. Refreshing. Thoughtful. Waywardly melodic. Metamatic."
Opposition T live review
"Their pop is characterised by its melodic clarity and smart use of space. 'Sloanestruck' weaves together sly references to Dadaism and Roxy Music over a shuddering stripped-down rhythm. On 'She could be persuaded', perfect vocals contrast with the ambiguous lyric and stop-start bassline."
Lab magazine
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