Have The Delgados sold out? Universal Audio is being heralded as their pop album, the one that'll finally see them make the transition from cult heroes to chart success. Don't believe a word of it - there may be a few brighter choruses this time around, but the songs still have a dark, misanthropic edge that'll send your average Westlife fan scrambling for cover. The appeal of these moody Scots has always lain in the contrast between the different styles of their co-leaders, the sweetly vicious Emma Pollock and the winsomely delicate Alun Woodward. This dramatic tension is well to the fore here again, resulting in an album that hides its intention in sugar-coated melodies, even as it prepares to plunge its lyrical dagger as deep as it'll go. So, the Delgados are likely to remain the British indie's scene best-kept secret. Just make sure you're in on it.
