It’s been only 36 days since we last wrote about Delilah Bon, but so many things have happened that another blog is in order. Delilah announced the release of her new album “Evil, Hate Filled Female”, released another single (the title track) and announced EU/UK autumn tour. The tickets are selling like hot cakes, Delilah is the most played independent artist on Spotify this week and misogynists are going berserk on social media. And it’s only Wednesday. How lovely.
Single cover, photography by Helen Tate
My reviews of Delilah Bon’s music are rarely just reviews. I always use the opportunity to write broadly about the topic she raises in her songs, using my own experiences, media reports, social media posts I see to raise awareness about sexual violence against women, sexualization of female performers in the music industry or technical decriminalization of rapes under Tory government. Delilah doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, be it sexual assault or fight for the Palestinian cause – she is a rare example of an artist having morals and strength to go against the mainstream. She has worked incredibly hard to be in this privileged position to speak out, to call out abuse or lack of principles without sacrificing her career. It has not always been the case. We have known and followed Lauren Tate since late 2016 when Vanadian Avenue started as a blog, and I remember torrents of abuse she received over the years for different reasons. Thankfully she persisted, having been surrounded by her family and friends who believed in her without a shadow of a doubt. This incredible support network (almost exclusively from other women) is what allowed Delilah to still be here and shine. There are rumors that Delilah will play on the main stage this year too at Reading and Leeds, but announcements will be made next week, so keep your fingers crossed. If that’s the case, then Delilah will not only play Glastonbury for the second time but will also perform at one of the oldest and most highly respected summer festivals in a span of a couple of weeks. This would definitely make 2024 the year not of a dragon but Delilah Bon’s. Or maybe it is one and the same.
Returning to the single at hand, “Evil, Hate Filled Female” is another absolutely amazing track that will send the Gen Z and younger kids into a frenzy at a gig. You may also see female Gen X’ers nodding their heads and jumping in the back. I might be one of them, I’m seriously considering even going to Birmingham (Hare & Hounds) or Manchester (Def Institute) to see her play live despite me not being a big fan of either venue. I also could just fly to Belgium and see her at Kavka, an amazing venue in Antwerp. Who knows. I have not made up my mind yet, but seeing Delilah live is something I need to do this year. And so should anyone who calls themselves fans of new music.
“Evil, Hate Filled Female” stands at 3 minutes and 33 seconds, half of the number of the beast (666 if anyone asks). Not sure if that was done on purpose, but it’s worth being mentioned on the cover of the single. Here we have, Delilah Bon, a prime example of a dangerous species (a woman with an opinion) so her single is exactly 3:33. Wait for the album, it will be a full 666, plus some spare change the far right can use to finally hitchhike a ride to hell, which seems to be somewhere in Faversham according to this schedule.
Single highlights? The brilliant, full scale devil growl at 1 minute and 46 second mark, hyper happy verses and sweet as candy harmonized chorus. I’m having a hell of a time blasting it out to my neighbours via the open windows (nice weather and all), who will probably give me strange looks next week, but who cares! Delilah’s worth it (now it sounds like a L’Oreal commercial)!
Delilah Bon photographed by Helen Tate
If you like rap, feminist message, multiple genres mixed together, loud guitars and female vocals, you will be delighted. If you are into Andrew Tate and other assorted toxic misogynists, I suggest seeing a doctor or drinking Cool-Aid before listening. Fun fact: the title comes from a tweet Delilah received that described her as the titular evil, hate filled woman. It was too brilliant to ignore. This is how you deal with hate mail.
Also, something that has been a thorn in my side for many years: UK press (with the exception for the brilliant staff at Kerrang magazine) has consistently ignored Delilah despite her phenomenal and ground breaking achievements for an unsigned artists: sold out tours, millions of Spotify plays, thousands of YouTube streams, and social media followers. When she played gigs in France and appeared on biggest shows on French national TV, there was not a single article mentioning this, despite Delilah performing for millions of viewers. I personally had emailed many journalists and music magazines trying to raise their awareness, to zero reply. They are ok with constantly printing articles about industry plants yet there never was any interest in a British, self-made artist such as Lauren Tate. Just a couple of days ago, Clash magazine finally printed a short piece about Delilah upcoming album, yet there was not a mention that she withdrawn from The Great Escape Festival due to boycott, and Clash was The Great Escape official media partner. This is a blatant example of how grass root artists are completely cut from music magazines in this country, something that seriously clips the wings from indie artists and creators. Magazines love to remind us that they are supporters of new music when it’s time to renew our subscriptions or helping them out financially, but in reality, they seem to only care for singed acts on major labels – and this is hurting the whole industry. Delilah is doing great and she seems to be getting a solid following in Europe too, which is fantastic to see, but this is only due to her hard work. Our own music press is getting short end of the stick now, or how we say in Poland, are waking up with their hands in the shitter.
Once again, my call for the industry folks in the back: support diverse artists, especially female ones, working class, minority, poorer ones – they are our future not the rich kids. We will not have another Annie Lennox or Judi Dench if working class artists are not helped and appreciated. We are all losing out.
My two cents from this evil, hate filled (and as one Twitter user called me recently) bitter female.
You can buy tickets to see Delilah live online at: https://www.delilahbon.co.uk/tour
Delilah festival appearances:
June 7th – Germany, Tuebingen Festival
June 8th – Germany, Karlsruhe Karla.Tanzt
June 14th – Czech Republic, Rock The People
June 16th – UK, Download Festival
June 29th – UK, Glastonbury Festival (Sold Out)
July 7th – Netherlands, Metropolis Festival
July 13th – UK, 2000 Trees Festival
Delilah Autumn tour:
Sept 27th – France, Paris La Maroquinerie
Sept 28th – Germany, Cologne Helios37
Sept 29th – Germany, Berlin Cassiopeia
Oct 1st – Germany, Hamburg Hafenklang
Oct 2nd – Netherlands, Amsterdam Melweg Up
Oct 3rd – Netherlands, Tilburg Hall Of Fame
Oct 5th – Netherlands, Utrecht Ekko
Oct 6th – Belgium, Antwerp Kavka
Oct 31st – Wales, Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
Nov 1st – Southampton The Joiners
Nov 2nd – Brighton Komedia Studio
Nov 3rd – Norwich Waterfront Studio
Nov 7th – Birmingham Hare & Hounds
Nov 8th – Bristol Exchange
Nov 9th – London The Underworld
Nov 14th – Manchester The Deaf Institute
Nov 15th – Leeds The Key Club
Nov 16th – Glasgow The Cathouse
Album orders: https://ingrv.es/evil-hate-filled-fem-d3n-c
Delilah online:
https://www.delilahbon.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/delilahbonofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/DelilahBon
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5JUFYlgwsbqpLcU9TMlsve
https://twitter.com/DelilahBon_
https://soundcloud.com/delilahbon
https://www.youtube.com/c/DelilahBon
https://www.tiktok.com/@delilahbon
“Evil, Hate Filled Female” is out today, it’s the third single from the upcoming album after “Maverick” and “Finally See Me”.
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 