At just 21, Paloma Stoecker, stage name Delilah, has had a deceptively long musical career. After signing with Atlantic Records at the age of just 17, Delilah toured with artists such as Maverick Sabre and Chase and Status as well as co-writing the song ‘Time’ with the latter. Her solo work has, therefore, been a long time in the gestation but judging from 2–4am, it would seem that the wait has been worthwhile.
Delilah’s music has its roots in dance and hip–hop but is, at heart, song–led, melodic pop with a bewitching ambience of contemplative darkness. The songs on this mix–tape are wistful reflections on lost love and a character forming childhood which saw the death of her step-father in 2002. This is typified on opener, ‘Never Be Another’, with Stoecker singing ‘I can’t stand by, live a lie with you / ‘cause there’ll never be another one’ to a backdrop of brooding, oscillating synths and an insistent handclap beat.
The highlight of 2–4am is Joe Goddard’s remix of ‘Love You So’, which chops up the verses but keeps the same infectious chorus of the original, producing a pleasing mix of angular and smooth soundscapes. Other stand–out tracks include the more recently penned ‘21’, on which Delilah reveals a vulnerability which suggests that there are multiple dimensions to her song–writing ability. 2–4 am is a fantastic introduction to what could be a very exciting career and whets the appetite perfectly ahead of the release of Delilah’s full debut, From the Roots Up, setto be released in the summer.
The 2–4am mix-tape is available to download for free from http://www.delilahofficial.co.uk/2012/. Delilah will be playing at the O2 Academy on Tuesday 17th of April with tickets available from http://www.o2academyoxford.co.uk/.
