The Delines: The Set Up

I love albums that transport me to another world and introduce me to characters I’d probably never encounter, letting me live their lives for a while. The Delines do this brilliantly, and their latest album, The Set Up, is another cinematic masterpiece.

They conjure a bleak, blue-collar soap opera populated by aimless drifters, chancers, and grifters who drift through bars, battered cars, parking lots, and convenience stores.

Their stories revolve around botched robberies, tumultuous relationships, and broken dreams. Disaster always feels close — in fact, the characters seem destined for it.

Providing the backdrop to these tales of the lost and the lonely, the band’s soundtrack is a cinematic blend of country and soul, and this is their most soulful and lyrically bleak album yet. The arrangements are sparse and measured, each musician playing with subtle restraint, while Amy Boone’s evocative voice draws the listener into every tragic scene.

I recently used the album to test the upgrade potential of the excellent Chord Electronics TToby Power Amplifier on a Linn Selekt DSM. The TToby perfectly recreated the minimalist soundscapes, rendering Boone’s voice with lush depth amid the sparse arrangements and added new clarity, depth, and power to the Linn's presentation.

With The Set Up, The Delines further refine the country-soul blend they’ve been honing for the past twelve years — and it may be their finest work yet. 

Listen here