Vinyl Record
Delorean - Apar
Delorean - Apar on LP vinyl. A 2013 record available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel, Ireland.
LP ยท 2013
Available from Kilmorna Collection in Listowel.
Buyer notes: 2013 LP, currently available from the Kilmorna Collection vinyl shelf. Pay for pickup in Listowel or ship within Ireland for EUR 5.50.
Apar is Delorean after the bright lift of Subiza, but it is not simply a second attempt at the same Balearic rush. Released in 2013, the album finds the Basque-born, Barcelona-based band trying to turn dance-pop momentum into something more song-shaped, more tactile and more emotionally shaded. The earlier Delorean sound could feel like sunrise rendered as loops: ecstatic, weightless, built for bodies already in motion. Apar keeps the shimmer, but it lets more human weather into the room. Spirit opens with the familiar glow of upward synths and elastic rhythm, yet the album soon reveals a quieter ambition: vocals placed closer to the center, guitars and drums used as active architecture, choruses that suggest longing as much as release. Destitute Time, Dominion and Unhold do not abandon the dancefloor; they soften its edges until euphoria starts to feel like memory. Caroline Polachek's appearance on Unhold is especially telling because it brings an art-pop precision to a record that is already reaching beyond sample-driven lift. Apar works best when heard as a transition album. Delorean were not rejecting the blissed-out identity that brought them wider attention, but they were testing whether that identity could survive more conventional songwriting, live-instrument texture and a slower emotional burn. That makes the record less immediate than its predecessor and, in some ways, more revealing. It catches a band known for effortless energy choosing patience, detail and atmosphere over the easiest route to impact. The title's airy suggestion fits the music: surfaces sparkle, but beneath them is a band trying to hold together movement, melancholy and pop craft without letting any one element flatten the others.
Apar matters because it documents Delorean at the point where a celebrated electronic-pop breakthrough had to become a sustainable language. Instead of repeating the pure rush of Subiza, the band made a record about broadening that rush into songs with more contour and emotional afterimage. For collectors of 2010s indie dance, it marks a moment when festival-ready electronic euphoria began folding back into guitar-pop, dream-pop and art-pop forms. It also preserves Delorean's unusual place in the era: a Spanish group whose music translated internationally without losing its own sense of coastal brightness and late-night melancholy.
For a collection, Apar belongs beside Subiza as the reflective second panel rather than the obvious headline. It is the record to reach for when Delorean's ecstatic side is already understood and the listener wants the more measured, studio-conscious chapter. Its value is in hearing the band negotiate between programmed lift and band performance, between communal dance energy and private feeling. Collectors drawn to the early-2010s meeting point of indie rock, synth-pop and alternative dance will find it especially useful because it captures that sound while it was still porous and searching.
Luminous alternative dance-pop with Balearic shimmer, softened synth propulsion, live-band texture and vocals that turn euphoria toward wistful reflection.
Recommended for: Listeners tracing the early-2010s bridge between indie dance and dream-pop; Delorean fans who want the more patient companion to Subiza; Collectors drawn to bright electronic records with a melancholy afterglow.
What year is Apar from? Apar was released in 2013. How does Apar compare with Subiza? It keeps Delorean's bright electronic lift, but it leans more strongly into songwriting, live-band feel and reflective atmosphere. Who is Apar best suited for? It suits listeners who like indie dance records that shimmer on the surface while carrying a more wistful emotional center.