The world as we know it is changing. Statues of long-forgotten influential aristocrats are being torn down by those standing aside the Black Lives Matter movement; the police force and those sworn to protect us are being challenged in the face of abusing their authority; and those in a position of power are finally being outed and held accountable for their actions thanks to the stronghold of the #MeToo movement.
It’s about damn time that outdated and old-fashioned systematic racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia, was abolished from a new society that will no longer stand for it, and those who are leading the battle into a pivotal movement are doing so by utilising our ancient tradition of storytelling; music.
Hands off Gretel front woman Lauren Tate goes by her alter ego Delilah Bon for her first solo venture, embodying the feisty and empowered female narrative millions of women and girls like you and I wish we’d had in our movies and music growing up. Delilah’s self-titled debut record comes as a reaction to the backwards and counter-progressive views on our deep set external and internalised misogyny and glorified rape culture currently playing out in the mainstream media and behind closed doors. Soaked in nü metal musicality, the weight of the vocals are dripping with hip-hop rhythms with rap-inspired lyrics to push the bulk of the records message and content in what is now being branded as Brat Punk, and we’re here for it.
A suspicious and dubious bass line sneaks it’s way into opening track ‘Freak of the Week,’ as Delilah’s first announcement is “ladies and gentlemen, the girl you’ve all been waiting for is here. Give it up, Delilah Bon!” ‘Freak of the Week’ explores the common occurrence of girls’ nights out on the town, being constantly harassed by different guys each week hovering around like predatory vultures and scavenging leeches, claiming that “you should be glad, most of the girls are attention mad// they’re dressed like sluts and shaking their butts, how do you expect us to hold our nuts?” ‘Where My Girls At?’ follows the infuriating normalisation of women being unsafe and the importance of banding together, whilst the pop-laden, R&B girl-group structured ‘Chop Dicks’ addresses rape culture and ruminates over the question “he didn’t hurt her but imagine if he did. Would you feel the way I feel if that girl was your kid?”
It’s not just men who are the problem though; there’s also a bubbling pot of internalised misogyny from the women’s camp too as jealously runs deep through our veins as we struggle to watch others succeed instead of congratulating them. ‘Soul Sisters’ sees Delilah Bon fantasising about making out with her school bully as a defence mechanism and counter-reaction, “Girl I don’t wanna fight, I just want to make love, you and me tonight.” Running with the same theme, the sleazy grunge vibes of ‘School’, the slithering swagger of ‘Red Dress’, seductive hypnosis of ‘I Am the Devil,’ and ‘Bad Attitude,’ sees Delilah entwine In This Moment’s Maria Brink’s explosive anger and throws a middle finger up into the faces of those who told her that her ‘bad attitude’ and spunky nature would see her fail at music… on a record that she has entirely written, played on, sang on, engineered, produced, and marketed by herself, all over the top of industrialised fuzzy guitars. “I don’t know what to do, I’m making it big without a man or a dude. I don’t know what to do, I’m making all my money from my bad attitude,” sums it up pretty well.
‘Do Your Homework’ incorporates a repeated tribal grunt, similar to that of the Māori Hakka, utilised to strike fear and intimidation into the hearts of their enemies. On the other side of the anger and resentment is pain and sadness, as ‘War on Women’ shows a more vulnerable and melodic version of Delilah inflicted with flickering piano notes and soulful passion. We catch small glimpses of Delilah’s delicate vocal ability as she breaks down over the fact that “the war on women is a war on us all. The ice caps are melting like the good in us all. A war on colour is a war on us all. They hate what is different and they kill what is small.”
Although the record’s musicality features multiple layers and subtle gems, it’s lost beneath the weight of the vocals. However, it lays the foundation in which it holds up high the main focus and by far the most important element of the album; the lyrical content. Delilah Bon is the voice of a new generation that isn’t prepared to lie down and take shit from any sort of alleged authority, and this record serves as the bible in which a new movement is born: a movement of positivity, a movement of acceptance, a movement of self-love and independence; a movement in which separate outcasted communities can come together against a common evil.
Delilah Bon is available now across all streaming platforms, to stay up to date with touring information and band merch, visit her official website here or follow the social medias linked below.
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