Delerium

Biography

Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient 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 female guest vocalists on their albums since their 1994 album Semantic Spaces×Semantic Spaces22 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Flowers Become Screens7:552Metaphor7:473Resurrection9:264Incantation6:215Consensual Worlds10:086Metamorphosis8:267Flatlands7:138Sensorium12:079Gateway8:10.

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 an early member of industrial music 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 (of Rose Chronicles), Sarah McLachlan, Leigh Nash (of Sixpence None the Richer), Elsieanne Caplette (of Elsiane), Lisa Gerrard (sampled only), Jaël (of Swiss band Lunik), Camille Henderson, Nerina Pallot, Emily Haines (of Metric), Jacqui Hunt (of Single Gun Theory), Isabel Bayrakdarian and Shelley Harland. Other than Leeb, only three males have contributed vocals to a Delerium album: Matthew Sweet ("Daylight", on Poem), Greg Froese ("Apparition", on Nuages du Monde), and Michael Logen ("Days Turn into Nights×Days Turn Into Nights18 October 2012 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Days Turn Into Nights (Seven Lions remix)6:072Days Turn Into Nights (Andy Caldwell remix)6:253Days Turn Into Nights (Solarstone Pure mix)9:064Days Turn Into Nights (album edit)4:025Days Turn Into Nights (Andy Caldwell dub mix)6:256Days Turn Into Nights (Solarstone Pure dub)8:337Days Turn Into Nights (Seven Lions remix edit)3:308Days Turn Into Nights (Andy Caldwell remix edit)3:359Days Turn Into Nights (Solarstone Pure edit)3:43", on Music Box Opera); in addition, the noted griot Baaba Maal was sampled ("Awakenings, on "Spiritual Archives×Spiritual Archives6 December 1991 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Drama7:402Rise Above6:493Aftermath7:374Ephemeral Passage6:315Barren Ground7:336Fathoms6:227Awakenings10:438Deceased7:24").
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×Nuages du monde2 October 2006 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Angelicus5:112Extollere5:333The Way You Want It to Be4:524Indoctrination5:275Self-Saboteur4:246Tectonic Shift7:117Lumenis6:458Fleeting Instant4:079Sister Sojourn Ghost4:5310Lost and Found4:0711Apparition5:05.
In addition to these two mainstays, related collaborations between Leeb and Fulber, Peterson, and/or Balch 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. Rhys Fulber has also maintained a 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 World benefit 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.

Albums / EPs

Faces, Forms & Illusions (Dossier, 1989), LP / CD
Morpheus (Dossier, 1989), LP / CD
Syrophenikan (Dossier, 1990), LP / CD
Stone Tower (Dossier, 1991), LP / CD
Spiritual Archives (Dossier, 1991), CD
Euphoric (Third Mind, 1991), EP / CD
Spheres (Dossier, 1994), CD
Semantic Spaces (Nettwerk, 1994), CD (August 23)
Spheres 2 (Dossier, 1994), CD
Karma (Nettwerk, 1997), LP / CD (April 22)
Poem (Nettwerk, 2000), LP / CD (November 21)
Chimera (Nettwerk, 2003), CD (June 24)
Nuages du Monde (Nettwerk, 2006), CD (October 3)
Music Box Opera (Nettwerk, 2012), CD (October 30)
Mythologie (Metropolis Records, 2016), LP/CD (September 23)
Signs (Metropolis Records, 2023), LP/CD (March 10)
Exaudire (releases January 15, 2027)

Compilations

Reflections I (Dossier, 1995), CD
Reflections II (Dossier, 1995), CD
Archives I (Nettwerk, 2002), 2CD
Archives II (Nettwerk, 2002), 2CD
Odyssey: The Remix Collection (Nettwerk, 2001), 2CD
The Best Of (Nettwerk, 2004), CD
Remixed: The Definitive Collection (Nettwerk, 2010), CD
Voice (An Acoustic Collection) (Nettwerk, 5 Oct. 2010) CD
Rarities & B-Sides (Nettwerk, 21 April 2015)

Online exclusive

"Above the Clouds×Above the Clouds16 October 2003 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Above the Clouds4:27" (2003), a download-only song featuring Shelley Harland available through iTunes Music Store and other Digital music stores

Remixes

Tara MacLean – "Divided" (2000)
Sarah Brightman – "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (2001)
Sasha Lazard – "Awakening" (2002)
Clint Mansell – "Requiem for a Dream Soundtrack - Deluxed" (2002)
Lunik – "Waiting" (2003)
Phildel – "Comfort Me" (2013)

Third-party compilations that include Delerium

Space Daze: The History & Mystery of Electronic Ambient Space Rock (Cleopatra, 1994), 2CD (featured the song "Dark Matter" from the album Spheres×Spheres13 February 1994 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Monolith10:002Transmitter13:343Wavelength13:184Colony12:045Dark Matter7:286Cloud Barrier6:35).
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, 1998 (featured the song "Silence" in one episode).
Brokedown Palace Soundtrack (Island, 1999), CD (prominently featured "Silence").
Tomb Raider Soundtrack (Elektra / Wea, 2001), CD (featured a slightly stripped "Lara's Mix" of "Terra Firma").
Best of Mystera (Polys, 2000), 2CD
Doctor Death's Volume IV: The Marvels of Insect Life (C'est la Mort, 1990) CD (featured the song "A Certain Trust").
Faeries: A Musical Companion to the Art of Brian Froud (RCA, 2002) CD (featured the song "Nature's Kingdom").