LadyDot Review: PLAY (Album)

LadyDot Review: DELADAP – PLAY (Album)

Music (and especially Electro Swing) has the power! Deladap album review – “Play”

Since I work for a record label and produce CDs and vinyls, I pay close attention to how other albums are released. I am curious to see what ideas other people who produce albums in different corners of Europe, or even the world, have about the printing and look of the disc. When I saw this beautiful edition of Deladap’s album “Play”, consisting of three different coloured vinyls, I thought I just had to write a review about it. Especially as the music behind all these discs is truly superb. And it has incredible power!

“Music Has the Power”

That creak of the album at the beginning, which turns into electro swing madness after just a while, totally encourages me to savour every sound in “Music Has the Power”. Do you also feel the same way, that after the first song on the album you already have an initial idea of what the whole album will be like? For me this song puts me in a perfect party state. And I associate it a bit with inviting the partygoers to the first dances on the dance floor. I’ll definitely be taking up this invitation and rocking out to “Music Has the Power” throughout the entire “Play” album. I feel it!

And if you prefer slightly faster songs, Wolfgang Lohr has prepared his remix of this track especially for you. Very club-like, with a characteristic brass section – it couldn’t be otherwise! You can find it at the end of the tracklist. I know, I know, you are surely curious how “Music Has the Power” sounds in the version of this electro swing master, but you have to be patient, because there are still a dozen of really good songs ahead of you!

STREAM & DOWNLOAD HERE!

“So Long Baby and Bye Bye”

How I love listening to this song while I’m riding the bus to work, and then walking through a lovely horse farm and thinking about when the weekend will finally be! When you take a good listen to “So Long Baby and Bye Bye”, you’ll understand that this lyric really fits my situation perfectly: “I’ve been working hard all week, read the news that stole my sleep, If I could escape a while, I’d be so happy I could die”. In this song we revel in the delectable saxophone and trumpet, the fast, clubby rhythm and Yola B’s fantastic voice. Did you know that this song was already written two years ago? I’m ashamed to admit that I only discovered it when Deladap released the album “Play”. No problem, at least now I know what to say to my colleagues at work when it’s 5pm on a Friday: “So Long Baby and Bye Bye”! :)

“Sassy”

Now I present to you my favourite song from the album “Play”. Although I’m generally not a sassy person (hmm, maybe ask my husband though? I wonder what he’ll say about that! :)), this song totally gets to my heart. Firstly, I love the mesmerising, flirty vocals in these! And secondly, “Sassy” is a real energetic electro swing bomb! In the beginning, the fuse is slowly lit by a sparing yet perfectly sufficient gentle guitar riff and an increasingly bold brass section. When Stani Vana enters with his mix around 00:30, we already know that a real explosion is about to happen! It is also worth paying attention to the moment when the tempo slowly slows down and we hear subtle influences of a completely different music genre, namely downtempo. These few seconds remind me very much of the works of Parov Stelar. Do you also? It is really excellent!

“Cars and Flowers”

The beginning of this track sounds a bit like the motifs used in early 21st century techno style club mixes. Okay, I know I was just a kid back then, but I followed the Polish and world music market very closely. Really! I remember very well when cassette tapes were already going out of fashion and my older sister brought home the first CD! Haha, but sentimentality aside! After this energetic introduction in “Cars and Flowers”, after just one minute comes the fantastic electro swing elements, which alternate with distorted vocals that may remind us a bit of robot voices. For me this song is probably a bit too “electronic”, although on the other hand I can see myself having fun with this song in front of the stage at a Deladap concert. I hope this dream will come true soon!

“Make Swing Great Again”

When I wrote about the song “Sassy,” I mentioned that it was my favorite song. And now I’m starting to get serious about it, because I forgot about the fact that the album “Play” included this masterpiece. I can’t describe to you how much I love this track. Deladap and Wolfgang Lohr behind the consoles + Melinda Stoika on vocals = brilliant electro swing combination. Those perfect instruments, great mix and heart-melting brass instruments… No wonder this track was used in one of Netflix’s Spanish series! “Make Swing Great Again” I can listen to over and over again, and I’m sure I won’t get bored of it for a long time to come. You know, my husband, when he wants to motivate me to write another review, hums “Make Swing Great Again” to me very often – because even though I don’t make electro swing music, I put all my heart into these reviews and I want this music genre to be much more popular!

“Hello Hurry”

This song is about not rushing around so much – so we’re going to slow down the pace for a while and try to loosen up and chill out a bit. And it’s going to be really very easy. Just listen to Melinda Stoika’s soft, calm voice and those fantastic synths playing in the background of the chorus. You won’t find a brass section here this time, but it doesn’t bother me at all. I can finally catch my breath and totally unhurriedly continue writing this review, while having a great time to the rhythm of “Hello Hurry”.

“Multiplayer”

I dedicate this song to my husband, who after a hard day at work often plays computer games (which by the way sometimes drives me crazy :)). He is doing it even now, when I am writing a review for you! The guitar intro is really very intriguing – it’s a great start for this track, which thanks to the fantastic saxophone elements (that solo at the end is brilliant!) would, in my opinion, be fantastic to play on the radio. If you, too, sometimes like to go a level higher in the game, be sure to listen to “Multiplayer” in the background – maybe this song will motivate you to win the game?

“Tiktak”

I love it when music hides an important message. This time Deladap and Melinda Stoika make us reflect on how we are. After all, it takes so little to be good to the world and above all to another human being! To achieve this goal, we must first take a critical look at ourselves and start making changes. Nothing prevents us from doing it now, right now! “Tiktak” is a very cheerful track, filled with a whole lot of perfectly chosen instruments. The harmony in this music is well preserved, so why not bring it into your life too?

“Gambling Girl”

Melinda rules in this track! Not only in the music video, where she looks downright cosmic – and of course fantastic. :) She finally shows off the incredible power of her voice. When she sings “When the sun goes down, I’m the queen in town”, I can’t help but agree with her! This disco track reminds me a lot of 80s music – not only because of the distinctive rhythm, but also because of the funky sound of the brass instruments. So, are you adding “Gambling Girl” to your party playlist?

“Get Down and Boogie”

From the very first sounds I know that this track will instantly lift my mood! What I really like about it is that you can hear a lot of old, swinging elements and, above all, a lot of wind instruments, which I am just crazy about! And while I’m going crazy to the rhythm of “Get Down and Boogie”, another surprise awaits me. Around 02:30 we hear a fragment of the song… which we used to create a mini video of our wedding! Don’t worry – we took it from the music bank! :) Thanks to this brilliant, energizing song, I remembered those crazy moments.

“Summer Rain”

When you hear this song for the first time, you will surely immediately associate it with holidays. That guitar that accompanies us for almost the entire song reminds me of hot evenings by the campfire. “Summer Rain” makes me think of my Eurotrip to the Balkans this year and of myself leaning out of the window to catch some refreshment (okay, actually just before we left the air conditioning broke down :)). I remember how impatiently I was waiting for the summer rain. Which unfortunately I didn’t get. I’m sure you’ll like this characteristic motif between the chorus and the stanza! “Summer Rain” is summer memories closed in one song!

“Cream Soda” and… the conclusion!

If you’ve been following my reviews closely, you’ve surely noticed that I wrote about this tasty track some time ago. You can read the text here. I think I’ll always associate “Cream Soda” with the last warm, but shorter days of September and this crazy, crazy music video! Be sure to watch it. And of course read my review to see what I think about “Cream Soda”. :)

And as Melinda sings in this track, it’s already the cherry on the top. As I mentioned earlier, the album “Play” ends with Wolfgang Lohr’s remix of “Music Has the Power”. I hope that these dozen or so excellent songs will make you recharge your batteries, replenish your energy to the fullest, discover the incredible power within you and convince you that with Deladap and the new album “Play” is like a good game – it’s always worth playing it again! :)

Written & reviewed by LadyDot (Ja, Wizeruk) Date: 2021-11-29

Bio – LadyDot

Anna (LadyDot) was born in ’94, but always felt she came from the Golden Twenties. “Polka” in Polish means “girl from Poland”, so she’s “Polka in polka dots”. She loves vintage style and spontaneous travels around Europe. But her greatest love (apart from her husband) is of course music, especially Electro Swing.

On her own Blog www.jawizeruk.pl she writes about various music genres. She is a copywriter, so writing is her strong point. Anna likes singing (not only in the shower!) and cooking (especially Italian and Hungarian cuisine).