Nick Delffsâ songs have always come with an irrepressible edgeâthatâs part of his appeal. From his beloved 2000s jangle-rock band the Shaky Hands to his spirited solo alter-ego Death Songs to his soulful collaboration with Y La Bambaâs Luz Elena Mendoza, Tiburones, Delffs consistently brings a healthy dose of jittery energy to the music he makes.
Sometimes, this manifests as wild-eyed chaos. Other times, the effect is subtler, embedded in the quiet quiver of his voice. For years, Delffs has sounded like heâs trying to wriggle out of his own skin.
Which is why his new solo album, Redesignâout this week on Mama Bird Recording Co.âis so striking. Itâs the first album Delffs has released under his own name, and more than ever before, he sounds at ease. Which is not to say these 10 folksy rock songs lack something that coursed through his earlier work. Instead, their confidence provides a welcome counterbalance to Delffsâ natural restlessness.
Itâs not hard to draw a line from the music to the man himself. Delffs moved from Portland to Boise a few years back, became a father, and worked some ârealâ jobs. You can hear all of this on Redesign, where he sounds urgent but not hurried, uncertain but not unhinged. Delffs wanders, but never gets lost.
Love and loss are major themes in these lyrics, as is the natural world: bright moons, kind daylight, fire and water, skies split in two, sleeping outside. Piano-driven songs like âRunning Moonâ and âBe My Eyesâ have a lovely sort of lucent feel, while âLet It Be Doneâ and the title track each feature fidgety keyboard parts as core elements.
âGimme It Nowâ is a woozy waltz with some wonderfully unpredictable chord changes. âSomewhere Wildâ is a paean to strange lands with a faint reggae heartbeat. And âLove in the Meantimeâ is probably Redesignâs peak, a 21st century Springsteen-esque dream-pop jam that finds Delffs repurposing a platitude: âLiving in the moment,â he sings, âyou get nowhere.â
Nick Delffs spent years living in the moment. But on Redesign, he trades life in the moment in for life in the real world. It suits him well.