With their much awaited new single Long Time Coming set for release, Southampton's rising indie rock stars are hitting the road for a nine date tour in January which makes a hometown stop at The Joiners.

Delays, who met at Bitterne Park School in Southampton, are on the verge on making a huge impact on popular music. They’ve been in the business a while now but a recent signing to Rough Trade has really kick started things for them.

December saw them make an appearance on Channel 4's breakfast show RISE and pose for Arena magazine's January edition before heading off for a short tour of Japan.

Greg

They've gained positive reviews for their live gigs including support slots with Clearlake and The Thrills and their last single Nearer Than Heaven had music journos salivating. Radio One's Mark and Lard are also big fans.

Maybe this is because they are a complete antidote to the barrage of raw garage rock that we've all been subjected to recently. All the "The" bands that record companies have been throwing at us over the last two years are really starting to lose their appeal and Delays (who, incidentally, dropped the "The" from their name to distance themselves from the rock'n'roll bandwagon) are the perfect solution.

The band describe their sound as somewhere between The Hollies and The Cocteau Twins and, yes it's all in there but there's something else as well.

Perhaps it's Greg's incredible voice. Hearing him speak, you'd have no idea that he could reach such high falsetto whilst also keeping a sexy rasp to his vocals.

Or maybe it's just that these guys write really great pop tunes. And, yes, it is pop. Their songs actually have melodies and choruses that you can sing along to and "shock horror" they're proud of it.

When their last single, Hey Girl hit the shops it made it into the UK top 40 - with an album in the pipeline, and word of the lads talents spreading fast, it's not going to be long before Delays have made pop music cool again. It's about time.