Delphic’s Acolyte is the first, of hopefully many, seriously impressive debut albums to grace 2010.

The band, who hail from Manchester, have obviously done their homework before releasing Acolyte, drawing influence from the successes of the Manchester scene and Factory Records, hints of New Order present themselves in the form of catchy synth riffs and delicately haunting vocals across the album.

The alternative-dance scene is a notoriously hard scene to break into and this reviewer can only name one or two bands that would register on a general scale, Pendulum and The Prodigy anyone? However Delphic are different. Instead of bombastic, overblown dance tracks that bring the house down there is a much more relaxed, almost continental style to the ethereal arpeggiated beats – a fact that cannot be lost in the context of the ‘Sound of 2010’ list, in which fellow nominees HURTS possess a similar quality.

Stand out tracks on the 10 song debut include lead single ‘Doubt’ with its catchy chorus echoing through the mind long after the track has finished, whilst the opening refrain of ‘A, E, A, E, A, O…’ is a touch of brilliance. Later in the album, ‘Halcyon’ is a much more driven track with an erratic beat which will inevitable have the indie masses dancing all night long to Delphic in the coming months.