The Delines return with This Set Up, a companion piece that feels less like a sequel and more like a shadow—cast from the same world but stretching into darker, lonelier corners. Where their previous work found a kind of ragged romance in lives on the edge, this collection strips that away, focusing instead on what’s left when the hope fades. The result is a record that feels more fragile, more unsettled, and, in many ways, more revealing.
At the center of it all is Amy Boone’s voice, which continues to be the band’s most powerful instrument. She doesn’t so much perform these songs as inhabit them, delivering each line with a quiet empathy that makes even the most broken characters feel fully realized. Whether backed by little more than a piano or a slow swell of horns, her delivery remains restrained, allowing the weight of Willy Vlautin’s writing to settle in naturally. These are not stories that demand attention—they quietly insist on it.
Musically, the band leans further into a blend of country-soul and late-night jazz textures. There’s a noticeable shift toward piano-led arrangements, with subtle brass and woodwinds adding atmosphere rather than flourish. Tracks like “The Meter Keeps Ticking” introduce a slightly more rhythmic pulse, but even at their most animated, the songs never lose that sense of weary restraint. The instrumentation feels cinematic, like a series of dimly lit scenes unfolding one after another.
The album’s structure reinforces that feeling. Interspersed instrumentals and recurring motifs give the songs a narrative continuity, as if each track is part of a larger, interconnected story. Characters drift in and out of focus, their lives hinted at rather than fully explained. The fragmented storytelling adds to the emotional impact—these aren’t neat arcs with clear resolutions, but glimpses into lives that continue beyond the edges of the songs.
Lyrically, This Set Up is unflinching in its focus on addiction, loss, and the quiet erosion of hope. Yet it never feels exploitative. Vlautin writes with a novelist’s eye for detail, grounding each story in small, specific moments that make the broader themes feel intimate. There’s a sense of accumulated weight here, as if each song carries the residue of the last, building toward something that’s less about resolution and more about recognition.
In the end, This Set Up stands as one of The Delines’ most cohesive and affecting works. It doesn’t try to expand their sound so much as deepen it, refining their blend of storytelling and atmosphere into something even more immersive. It’s a difficult listen at times, but a rewarding one—an album that lingers not because it demands to be remembered, but because it quietly refuses to be forgotten. – Jason Felton