Delorean has broken from snappier "Subiza" (2010) with their more heavily-produced "Apar." There's an intensity that's missing from the new album, leaving the listener with little more than apathetic dance pop.
However, several stand-out songs pull "Apar" from the mundane. The opening track, 'Spirit,' is a churning, drum-laden call to ‘80s power pop, evoking an image of devil-may-care youths running from trouble in a brat pack film. Its underlying beat reminds me slightly of 'Chariots of Fire.'
The majority of the better—or at least more danceable—songs are front-loaded into the album. This includes 'Destitute Time,' which sounds like Two Door Cinema Club played underwater at three-quarter speed. The album doesn't quite push through to its listener, and when it does, it has been manipulated into a slow, echoing muddle. One exception is 'Dominion.' Its beautiful rhythms are fast-paced and driving, layered with slower, chant-like lyrics.
'Unhold' doesn't escape the album’s submerged sound, but the track uses that sense to its advantage. Reminiscent of The Cranberries, ‘Unhold’ retains a modern twist. The band recruited Chairlift's Caroline Polachek to perform on the album. Her ethereal, almost gospel harmonies are a wonderful addition, and her haunting and distant voice pairs perfectly with the tone of 'Unhold.'
The album is split into two distinct halves, but all of the songs follow the same basic, uniting structure: intense, aggressively hopeful drumbeat, then incoherent, echoey lyrics, building up to a polyrhythmic climax. While the first five songs on the album return to Delorean's roots, the more relaxed, less pulsating second half of "Apar" feels like an inappropriate come-down from a party that wasn't that great to begin with. Even the danciest of the new, cleaner tracks won't make you jump up and down, but they may make you sway back and forth with your hands in the air.
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