Even though the Scissor Sisters have hung up their boogie shoes (for now, anyway!), Del Marquis keeps on dancing…till the world ends. (Sorry, had to.)
But let’s be clear, this is hardly his first go on his own: In the time between the Scissors’ Ta-Dah and Night Work a few years ago, Del dabbled in solo territory with the release of a few EPs (check out my review of his Runaround EP from way back when I was still a baby blogger in 2009.)
Earlier this year, Del (okay, real name Derek) released his Tickle mixtape with singer Xavier Smith, an off-shoot full of experimental, disco-coated R&B gems like the Prince-esque “Say Ooh Damn” and a delightfully obscure cover of Jermaine Jackson‘s “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy.”
Now, he’s back for even more—this time operating as a musical collective called Slow Knights. The project, which “steps away from glamour shots and imagery that pushes the personality of anyone within” (thus the anonymity of the artwork), includes contributions from MuuMuse fave Rod Thomas (Bright Light Bright Light), Xavier, Mykal Kilgore, Bridget Barkan and Chrissi Poland.
This week, Derek launched “Shame,” the first single from his upcoming record, Cosmos.
Full of sparkling disco vibrations and bouncy ’80’s electro rhythms, the super-slick throwback production shimmers bright, serving up a refreshingly heavy dose of funk in the process: “It’s the silence that brings me pain/So I set myself on fire, ’til you notice the flames,” Xavier soulfully croons. It plays like a lost classic, buried in between your cassette copies of George Michael‘s Faith, Eurythmics‘s Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) and Devo‘s Freedom of Choice. (Also, it’s free.)
Cosmos arrives on March 26 which, judging by the album teaser, already sounds major.