Kieren Gallear also known as DELS (pronounced "Dels") is a British art director, recording artist, rapper, graphics designer and filmmaker born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, England, currently based in London. Gallear signed with the

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

imprint

Big Dada Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva, poet and playwri ...

in May 2010.

''GOB'' (2011)

DELS has released three singles, "Shapeshift", "Trumpalump" (produced by

Hot Chip Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...

's Joe Goddard) and "GOB" (produced by

Kwes Kwes (; sometimes stylised as ''kwes'', ''kwes.'', ''Kwes.'' or '' =o'' ) is a British music producer and artist from London, England. Kwes is also currently signed to Warp as a solo artist and released his debut album, ''ilp'' in October 2013. ...

), in 2010 and 2011. His debut album '' GOB'' (2011) was produced by

, with

Micachu Mica Levi (; b. 28 February 1987), also known by their stage name Micachu, is an English singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Levi is classically trained and since 2008 has released experimental pop music with their band Good Sad Happy ...

engineering two tracks and Joe Goddard three tracks. DELS met all three producers via Myspace when the social networking site was at its peak of popularity.

Critical acclaim

DELS was described as the "Future of UK Hip Hop" by British national newspaper ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' in their "Ones to Watch 2011" list in January 2011.

Paul Lester Paul Lester is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster from Elstree, North London. Career He began his career as a freelance journalist, for ''Melody Maker'' in the early 1990s, as well as ''City Limits'', ''20/20'', ''Sky Magazine ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' has complimented Dickins for his ability to set himself apart from many homogeneous hip-hop artists by sounding both languid and urgent. Lester has described Dickins as "Dizzee mixed with the Björk of Vespertina". DELS has received positive media coverage from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and

6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available only ...

DJs such as

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...

Reggie Yates Reginald (Reggie) Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has worked at the BBC in ra ...

Huey Morgan Hugh Thomas Diaz Morgan (born 8 August 1968) is an American musician best known as the former frontman of rock/hip hop band Fun Lovin' Criminals. Morgan performs both vocals and guitar and combines rock, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and funk influence ...

and

Lauren Laverne Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...

. DELS' single "Shapeshift" was listed by ''Dazed & Confused'' and ''Drowned in Sound'' as one of their top singles of 2010.

''Petals Have Fallen'' (2014)

Gallear's second album, '' Petals Have Fallen'', was released on 3 November 2014. He said:

Personal life

DELS is a fan of football club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and Japanese anime.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' GOB'' (2 May 2011) *'' Petals Have Fallen'' (3 November 2014)

EPs

*''Black Salad'' (2012)

Singles

Guest appearances

* '' Kwesachu Mixtape Vol.1'' (2010) * ''Eyesdown (Remix)'' (w/

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...

Andreya Triana Andreya Triana is a British singer and songwriter, ''Red Bull Music Academy'' alumna and MOBO nominated artist hailing from South East London, Her debut album, ''Lost Where I Belong'' released in September 2010 on London based record label Ninj ...

) (2011) * ''Kwesachu Mixtape Vol.2'' (2012)

Filmography

Music videos

* "You Live in My Head" (DELS) 2012 * "Right Thing" (Rosie Lowe) 2013

References

External links

*
DELS on Ninja Tune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dels (Musician) 1985 births Living people Musicians from Ipswich English hip hop musicians Ninja Tune artists Big Dada artists Black British male rappers