Music On Vinyl continues its Delta Goodrem releases with the release of the Australian singer-songwriter’s third album, ‘Delta’, on vinyl. The follow-up to 2004’s ‘Mistaken Identity’, an album that was notably darker in tone due to Goodrem writing about her battle with cancer, 2007’s ‘Delta’ switched to a lighter tone with a more optimistic and uptempo feel. The album produced four hits – the number 1 lead single ‘In This Life’, ‘Believe Again’, ‘You Will Only Break My Heart’ and ‘I Can’t Break It To My Heart’ – and it became Goodrem’s third consecutive number one album in Australia.
Much of ‘Delta’ was co-written by Goodrem with her then partner Brian McFadden, whom she collaborated with on the number one hit ‘Almost Here’ from ‘Mistaken Identity’. Goodrem also enlisted a number of top songwriters and producers including John Shanks, Marius de Vries, Stuart Crichton, Steve Kipner, Wayne Wilkins, Steve Mac and Wayne Hector to infuse a poppier mainstream sound throughout the record. Opening track ‘Believe Again’ explores Goodrem’s struggle after the release of ‘Mistaken Identity’, when she felt burnt out and went through a number of life changes. The slow-building euphoric track is the kind that Celine Dion has made a career of and it’s a strong first impression.
That through-line of optimism and hope runs through every song on the record. ‘In This Life’ is a joyous celebration of falling in love, the beat-laden ‘Possessionless’ is about appreciating the things you have and realising you don’t need material things to be happy, and ‘God Laughs’ deals with the divorce of the singer’s parents and emphasises the uncertainty in life. ‘You Will Only Break My Heart’, one of the highlights on the record, is an uptempo pop track that moves Goodrem into previously uncharted territory. It’s nice to hear her let loose a little more, free from the piano that so often accompanies her.
Elsewhere on the album Goodrem ponders the importance of living life and achieving your dreams on the delicate ‘Bare Hands’ and she celebrates womanhood on ‘Woman’, a song that was later recorded by Toni Braxton for her album ‘Pulse’ in 2010. ‘I Can’t Break It To My Heart’ is a song that sounds like it could have been from ‘Innocent Eyes’ and it’s one of the more emotional songs on ‘Delta’, with Goodrem refusing to let go of a love that has run its course. The album draws to a close with the beautiful ‘Angels in the Room’, a song that was presumably written about falling in love with McFadden. It’s a gentle end to an album that pushed the boundaries of Goodrem’s sound at the time, and moved her further into pop territory.
Limited to 2000 numbered copies, ‘Delta’ is pressed onto black and gold marbled 180-gram vinyl. Unlike the recent releases of ‘Innocent Eyes’ and ‘Mistaken Identity’, this release isn’t a gatefold but it does contain a beautiful large full colour booklet with the lyrics and artwork from the original release. As always with Music on Vinyl releases, the pressing has a clarity that delivers a much better listening experience than digital or CD. Hearing Goodrem’s gorgeous vocals pouring out of the speaker as the vinyl plays is truly special.
‘Delta’ is an album in Goodrem’s discography that often gets overlooked. The album didn’t really get a proper release here in the UK, and her subsequent releases didn’t either, despite her making a big impact on the charts with her first two records. While the album marked a departure sonically, it’s still unmistakeably Goodrem and her powerful voice drives the collection. It’s a treat to finally be able to get this album on vinyl here in the UK and Music on Vinyl is doing a fantastic job of celebrating the incredible career Goodrem has had so far.
Track listing: Side A – 1. Believe Again 2. In This Life 3. Possessionless 4. God Laughs 5. You Will Only Break My Heart 6. The Guardian Side B – 1. Bare Hands 2. Woman 3. I Can’t Break It To My Heart 4. Brave Face 5. One Day 6. Angels in the Room Record label: Music on Vinyl Release date: 17th November 2023 Buy ‘Delta’ now
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