Martin Smith

I saw Martin Smith (former lead singer of Delirious) perform with his band last week.  The gig confirmed my theory that he is the best frontman I have ever seen.

Some of the reasons for this are:

• He seems to really enjoy performing live.  He has a good time on stage.  This makes him really good to watch.  I'm sure many other people also enjoy performing, but it doesn't show as clearly.
• He engages with the crowd like no-one else.  He doesn't just talk to the crowd, he converses with them.  He shakes hands, makes jokes, stands on shoulders, takes song requests.  It's like watching your mate play a gig in the local pub.
• He makes great use of his body when performing.  Many frontmen will just stand there and sing (think Liam Gallagher).  Martin Smith will jump, dance, kneel, crouch etc.
• He is creative with his music.  The other day, he sang History Maker, though a different version without the classic bass/synth intro (creative), but then he sang God is Smiling over the top of it (more creativity).  Some of the times he does this, I'm sure it is planned.  Sometimes, I'm sure it is spontaneous.

I really have seen no-one else like him.  He is the best at what he does.

Cutting Edge

For the last couple of days I've had Delirious' first two albums playing in the car, namely Cutting Edge 1&2 and Cutting Edge 3&4. These are the albums I know least well of all Delirious' music, because they were released before I was aware of the band's existence, in 1994-1995.

Over the last couple of days, I've realised how strong the links are between these two albums and the early work of Matt Redman, who appeared at about the same time and who has co-written several songs with Delirious front man Martin Smith. I'm particularly talking about the music itself, rather than the lyrics - things like epic synths, piano usage, even the sound of the vocals.

Thinking of Matt's first three albums (Wake up my Soul, Passion for your Name and The Friendship and the Fear), the strongest parallels were with the following Delirious songs:

The Message of the Cross
Singer's Song
The Crucible for Silver
Prophet Song
Lead Me
Did you Feel the Mountains Tremble?
Oh Lead Me
You Split the Earth
I've Searched for Gold

I like it that one of my favourite bands and one of my favourite solo artists remind me of each other in this way.

In other news, I've just found out that Delirious are to release a live album later this year. I'm not particularly excited about this, as it won't contain any new material, and because the number of Delirious live albums is getting silly (this will be the 6th). However, I am excited about hearing live versions of God is Smiling, Hallelujah, and Love will find a way.