Delerium is a Canadian new-ageambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a broad range, including dark ethereal ambient trance, voiceless industrial soundscapes, and electronic pop music. They are best known for their worldwide hit "Silence". The band is known to feature several female guest vocalists on their albums since their 1997 album Karma.
Members and history
Delerium has traditionally been a two-person project, but the only constant member throughout its history has been Bill Leeb. Leeb was a guest musician and early supporter of industrial dance pioneers Skinny Puppy, but after he left in 1986 he went on to create his own project, Front Line Assembly with collaborator Michael Balch. Later, the two worked on the side project Delerium and released their first album, Faces, Forms & Illusions. After Balch left both Front Line Assembly and Delerium, Leeb worked with Rhys Fulber, and the two released several albums under the Delerium moniker; these years saw a gradual stylistic change from darker ambient to a more danceable sound. After the release of Karma, Fulber left to pursue other interests, and Leeb teamed up with producer Chris Peterson to release Poem. 2003, however, saw the reunion of Leeb and Fulber for the release of Chimera, followed by Nuages du Monde in 2006. In contrast to Leeb and collaborators' other projects, Delerium has included several guest vocalists since the release of Semantic Spaces. These have included mostly women, such as Kristy Thirsk, Sarah McLachlan, Leigh Nash, Elsieanne Caplette, Lisa Gerrard, Jaël, Camille Henderson, Nerina Pallot, Emily Haines, Jacqui Hunt, Isabel Bayrakdarian and Shelley Harland. Other than Leeb, only three males have contributed vocals to a Delerium album: Matthew Sweet, Greg Froese, and Michael Logen ; in addition, the noted griotBaaba Maal was sampled. The Mediæval Bæbes provided the vocal track for, and starred in the video of, Aria; the vocals are an adapted version of the vocals from "All Turns to Yesterday" on the Bæbes' Worldes Blysse album. They are also featured on two tracks from Delerium's 2006 album, Nuages du Monde. Although it may be argued that Front Line Assembly has the largest cult following of all Leeb and associates projects, Delerium is undoubtedly the most financially successful. In addition to these two mainstays, related projects of the Leeb, Fulber, Peterson, Balch family include Equinox, Intermix, Noise Unit, Pro-Tech, and Synæsthesia, among others. In addition, in 2007 Leeb and Fulber collaborated with Leigh Nash under the name Fauxliage, also Rhys Fulber maintains his solo project Conjure One since his temporary exit from Delerium.
Music
The single "Silence", featuring vocals by Sarah McLachlan, reached number three on the UK music charts. In 2000, three years after Karma was released, notable DJs such as Tiësto and Airscape produced remixes of "Silence", which generated interest and gained considerable radio airplay for the original track, albeit most airplay was for the remixes. In 2003, Delerium embarked on their first tour, with vocals performed by Kristy Thirsk and Shelley Harland. In January 2005, Delerium performed at the One Worldbenefit concert in Vancouver for the 2004 Asian tsunami, where "Silence" was performed live for the first time with Sarah McLachlan. The song has been described as one of the greatest trance songs of all time.
Awards
Delerium has received two Juno Awards for Best Dance Recording: in 1998 for "Euphoria ", and in 2000 for "Silence".
