Text by Ionela Pleșan
I attended J’ai Bistrot for Delta pe Obraz’s album audition on February 20th. However, due to the noise outside and life events, I only managed to listen to it from start to finish today, March 3rd. I’m writing this review with the album playing and tears streaming down my face.
The formalities are already taken care of, so if you’re curious about who Delta pe Obraz is, you can learn more about them here.
Delta pe Obraz entered my life unexpectedly. It wasn’t my request. A friend kept urging me that they were cool, but I brushed it off. How good could they be? I found out when I attended my first Delta pe Obraz concert, and I was shocked.
Who else sings so sincerely in Romania right now? Who? Most lyrics are juvenile or clichéd. I’m tired of love themes and expressing love through simple phrases in songs, I’m tired of breakups and everyone singing about them and trying to make it a hit. Delta pe Obraz doesn’t do that. They have a humanity in their lyrics that hurts when you read or hear it. And when you think about what the author wanted to convey, it’s even worse. Why? Because you don’t quickly snap out of that contemplation, and you’re likely to end up thinking about yourself just when you shouldn’t or don’t want to. So, when you’re adrift, it’s not advisable to listen to Delta pe Obraz because it deepens your thoughts, although for people like me, I believe it helps and doesn’t suffocate me even more.
If the above description hasn’t scared you off and you’re still here, thank you, now let’s talk about the songs and the album itself.
The album consists of 7 songs plus an intro and an outro, totaling 9 parts:
- Intro
- Ritmul meu color
- Invită-mă în casă
- Carne
- Calci
- Alt Nume
- Limpede
- Strigă
- Outro
I won’t give away the entire intro to allow you to enjoy it when you listen to the album. For me, it offers valuable insights into how the artist or listener feels, as well as reflections on the current situation in the world or how we manage ourselves.
“Ei au gloanțe tu ai litere şi curaj
Epuizează-ți rezervele
Epuizează-ți frica”
What do these reserves mean? I don’t think it’s a term that everyone interprets in the same way. For me, it’s synonymous with the reservations I hold for certain things – to do, to believe, or to be.
The outro lasts for 3 minutes and 35 seconds on the CD, introducing you to the world of Delta Pe Obraz’s first album. You hear Gheorghe’s voice, which seems to resonate through a megaphone or as if it’s the voice inside everyone’s head. Soundwise, there’s a distant drumbeat accompanied by an indistinct cymbal and a siren-like sound reminiscent of natural disasters, or perhaps that’s just the sensation it evokes for me. I won’t reveal more details because I’d like to maintain some suspense.
Ritmul meu color is the title track of the album, and I’m genuinely curious why they chose this song or this name to title the album, but I believe only Delta pe Obraz can provide that answer. The guitar at the beginning seems really cool; it sounds somehow sharp and sounds like footsteps. The guitar halfway through the song seems to cry and goes exactly where it needs to. Together with some lyrics that talk about forgetting, recognizing, and rediscovering. This song talks about how we were taught or raised. Each in their own little box or pattern. And it somehow encourages you to find yourself or even leave.
“Plecare dulce să ai
Resemnare și liniște să-mi dai“
It appears to be a song that seeks authenticity in others. The author is searching for someone who comprehends him and refuses to conform to societal norms. He’s not looking for regrets and judgments; he’s realized the situation and is resigned to it, but still wants to help.
My favorite lyrics are:
“La orice oră târzie
Pot găsi
Măcar o inimiă
Care bate-n ritumul meu color
Vreau să mă simt o poezie
Scrisă pentr-un singur cititor.”
The third song on Delta pe Obraz’s debut album is Invită-mă în casă, a song I think I heard live once. It features a piano in the background, very well-placed drums, and tambourine or bells that lend a playful air to some very powerful lyrics.
It seems to talk about the game at the beginning or end of a relationship, but again, that’s just my interpretation. The voices layered over Gheorghe’s vocals have their impact and somehow cut through the seriousness of the song, but make it sound more solemn. I’m very curious to experience how this song sounds when performed live. It’s one of my favorites from the album.
How these guys manage to sound so good recorded, I don’t know, but thanks to them. It talks about which “corridors” to go through, meaning which buttons to press or not to hurt someone else.
“ N-am să te întreb prin care coridoare
Tre să merg
Tre s-apăs
Să știu că nu doare”
It seems that the author wants to become a stranger and start from scratch.
Photo by Andrea Stanciu
Carne, the fourth song on the album, is much more rhythmic than its predecessors, and I feel like this song sounds really cool live, and the bass seems very enticing and brings a trace of groove. The rhythm is what sets the song apart from the beginning, with a well-placed drum and a very sharp guitar. As for the lyrics, Carne seems to talk about regrets and what you’re capable of or what you’ve been capable of doing for someone. The song is very well supported by the instrumental, and the verse doesn’t ask if it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. You can wonder, yourself, or someone totally different and unfamiliar with the subject. Carne seems to be a song where Delta Pe Obraz tries harder, at least on the instrumental side. It seems like the kind of song that can be taken very hard live. The idea of rhythms is promoted here through the verse save me by dancing through rhythms.
Apparently, everyone has their own rhythm, whether it’s too slow, too fast, or nonexistent, and we must accept that.
The fifth song, Calci, which has a somewhat gloomy vibe at the beginning, is one of my favorite songs on the album. And from the point of view of the instrumental, but also of the lyrics.
I realized that I’ve been stepping with my left foot for a long time, but I think I got used to it and I’m fine with it. It’s a song that makes me think, at least for me, it gives me food for thought. With the lyrics :
Tu calci sau cazi
the author appears to express a sense of repressed helplessness. This song deeply moved me upon first listen, and I’m afraid of what it will do to me when I listen to it live for the first time.
Alt nume, the sixth song on the album, and my favorite, seems to have captured my whole essence as a person over the past few years. The author seems to have been the voice in my head for the past 3 years, and now he writes this song without my knowledge.
Lyrics like inventează-ți alt nume / inventează-mi alt nume tells me about a relationship with someone or with my own person that didn’t work out, but the desire for change and improvement exists. I love this song every minute, every second, and I can’t help but teleport every time I listen to it or think about that situation when I wished we had invented other names and run away together.
The seventh song, Limpede, I heard live, and as a friend says about Delta pe Obraz: “Well, these guys are really sad.” That’s what I thought when I listened to it again on CD. I wonder how Delta pe Obraz’s sound would change if it had a happier tone. Would it lose its charm?
In Limpede (a song you can also find on Spotify) there’s a certain sensitivity and arrogance combined with a touch of guitar and lyrics that make you think or at least provoke a small shock.
The final song that closes Delta pe Obraz’s debut album is Strigă. It’s also one of my favorites from the album.
It seems to me that the lyrics address both the individual and a relationship, but in a non-traditional manner. It does it through powerful metaphors that make you think, and I really like the guitar and bass on this song. It feels like the kind of song you sit down and contemplate, but it seems to slap you at the end with the conclusion that the author still doesn’t want to become the person he has become.
The outro is a dizzying conclusion, open to interpretation, but I like that. You can wonder for hours what the artist meant, and I think that’s the most important thing. To make someone think and not serve everything on a silver platter.
Îmi cos gura cu cel mai gros fir de ață
ca să fiu sigur că o să mă-nțeleagă chiar și un câine.
They poured their hearts into this album, and it’s hoped that you will understand or at least feel compelled to ask questions.
Delta pe Obraz are on their album promotion tour, and in Expirat, on Thursday, March 7th, I would be happy to see everyone and for it to be sold out because this band really deserves it. They have something of their own and a style that makes you cry with a smile on your face.
After you listen to the album and realize how great it is, you might wonder how you can get it on vinyl?
Well, Delta Pe Obraz came up with the solution. The guys are organizing a crowdfunding campaign to create the vinyl record of ritm color, and you have the opportunity to receive unique products branded Delta pe Obraz.
“We want to continue the album by releasing a series of VINYL record, giving you the chance to listen to the album in the best possible quality – and to include unpublished material as well. This is where you can support us by purchasing these VINYL records in advance.
Plus, you’ll have access to other accessories and items branded by DELTA PE OBRAZ, which will connect you more closely with us and give us the chance to continue creating.
Let our hearts beat in COLOR RHYTHM”
I recommend helping them if you can. It’s a vote of confidence in a band that has shown and still shows that they deserve it. I’m curious about what the future holds for them, but I’m sure I’ll be on that journey listening to their music.
See you at Expirat in the front of the stage!
Rock Monsters Romania 
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