DELAYS are the brightest thing to come out of Southampton since the flame-haired Gordon Strachan quit as the Saints' manager - and the orange trim on the CD sleeve outdoes even the Scottish carrot-top.

This is the feyest of retro pop albums, its sunny inspiration drawn initially from the psychedelic Byrds on last year's debut single Hey Girl, only for the quartet's soft and fluffy coiffeurs to indicate a deeper predilection for soft and fluffy Eighties' British provincial pop.

Where the American acts Interpol, The Rapture and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club drink from the Eighties' pool of gloom of The Cure and The Jesus And Mary Chain, Delays find unexpected nectar in the forgotten B-list melancholia of Fiction Factory's Feels Like Heaven, China Crisis and the Lotus Eaters' First Picture Of You.

Stranger still, lead vocalist Greg Gilbert hits the heights in a fluttering falsetto that plays tricks on you. Opening track - and potential fourth single - Wanderlust is the sound of the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser on holiday in the Caribbean rather than floating around an other-worldly postcode; Bedroom Scene could be Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks on a particularly rough day.

Hey Girl, Long Time Coming and now Nearer Than Heaven have all had a quick snog with the Top 40, and the breezy melodies, perfectly manicured harmonies and sweetly divine guitars of Faded Seaside Glamour surely will be embraced in a full clinch, like The Thrills last year, once summer arrives.

If all else fails, Delays could always sack the hair stylist without delay.

Updated: 08:48 Thursday, April 22, 2004