Delilah Bon the alter-ego of Hands Off Gretel's Lauren Tate talks to The Star ahead of her show at The Leadmill

Meet Delilah Bon the antagonistic, insanely talented and possessing of a voice that is just as compellingly brilliant as it utterly terrifying — in a good way. The creative alter-ego of Lauren Tate, yes the lady of Hands Off Gretel fame, has plenty to say and regardless she is going to do so… with lyrical ferocity and driving guitar riffs to boot. But that is not giving this creative, alternative, misfit, Miss-Won’t-Quit, her dues which would be remiss of us.

This bold-new alter-ego was born last year and it was purely an accidental creative birth, so says the propagator of this new musical outlet Lauren who embodied this vessel of anger, rage, frustration and more to deliver a stunning debut self-titled album that came from a place of self-reflection, self-care as well as helping her to realise that she creatively and as an incredibly self-aware woman required some much needed catharsis — a release if you will.

Listen to the FULL and uncut interview with Delilah Bon and ‘Subscribe’ (for free) here: https://anchor.fm/chris-talks-music

"I started making my angry-feminist music during lockdown, which started as a result of me being in a band”, she says referring to Hands Off Gretel.

"I couldn’t help noticing that there were a lot of men at my shows. Mainly men. A lot of girls told me that they didn’t feel safe coming to see me live, and I was also getting harassed by men.”

“I had been sexually harassed and getting a lot of s**t from men that I was having to deal with, and I ignored it for years until lockdown when I decided that I was going to write about how it feels to be a woman, how it feels for my friends, be really blunt with it and not care if people were offended or not like to hear it… and then Delilah Bon was born, my alter-ego”

It all sounds incredibly heavy, downbeat, and from a place of anger. Understandably so, but it’s also important to note how powerful, impactful and immersed in fun so much of her music is. Despite the subject matter being something that is hugely concerning, it is undeniably hard-hitting, clear and caustically concise. If they don’t want to hear then they must feel seems to be the tone emanating through every song on Delilah Bon’s self-titled debut, Delilah Bon.

Every track impacts the listener with bravado, aplomb and an uncompromising verbal portrait of the world, both in its content and also its ability to highlight and spotlight in the seemingly rising casual sexism, xenophobic, homophobic and transphobic elements of society today. In short, it’s bloody good and it’s drenched in blood. Think punk-rock thrown into a mixing pot with P!nk, Eminem, Slipknot, Cardi B and a healthy dollop of South Yorkshire… there is a lot going on, but it all seems to blend together seamlessly, with ease.

"P!nk was one of my main influences when I was younger, I used to listen to her when I was a teenager with no friends”

It’s safe to say that Delilah/Lauren has surpassed all that thought little of the young lady from Barnsley, evolving into this exponentially talented tour-de-force, and yes… she does have a friend in me, we, you, all of us now.

Delilah raps with a ferocity that is akin to Eminem throwing out murderous barbs of wit, criticism, storytelling and exuding an effortless intellect throughout. And I couldn’t tell you when she takes a breath. I don’t even know if she’s human, I think she’s evolved past the realms of usual breathing patterns and simply doesn’t bother to take a breath until this non-stop candy-coated, blood-soaked, rollercoaster of feminine fury comes to a juddering halt. Only then does she pause because the CD (or stream if you will) has come to an end.

I’ve seen it branded as both ‘bratty’ and ‘sassy’ hip-hop, it’s neither it’s just honest, no filter, no demure overtones and proudly championing the rights of the disenfranchised, misfits, all those who didn’t fit in, who don’t think they fit in, the oppressed, repressed, depressed, self-questioning and more.

Media is often guilty of stigmatising people, communities, artists, creatives, whatever… but sometimes we just need to forego the labels of genre, gender, and just stop putting things in boxes all-together, Delilah Bon is charting her own ship, in the direction she likes and that’s a wonderful thing. Beautiful even, purely on the merits of its content, it’s presentation, its elaboration and also the alluring promise that this is just a beginning for this one-woman prejudice wrecking machine… at least that’s what it seems like she’s aspiring to be, who can deny her that? Simply, it’s impossible. Proof in the pudding is the aural bombardment of female fury prominent in every single guitar riff and syllable that frenetically drives you through the what’s sure to be a mosh-pit anthem, Dead Men Don’t Rape — except this time, lads… shift to the side will you?

It’s long overdue time to give women the space they need, heck just respect people. To those tutting and muttering under their breath at the sheer audacity of what this woman hath unleashed, I guess you’ll just have to suck it up and read the room.

Talking to Lauren throughout, I get this sense that she's Yorkshire’s very-own Furiosa – her of Mad Max: Fury Road, capably embodied by Charlize Theron with such assurety – and if anyone deigns to stand in her way, she will just plough right through them purely off the back of her lyrical prowess. I haven’t even touched on the production elements of the album, every track was produced by Lauren and the arrangement throughout is simply *chef’s kiss*.

“It’s a mesh of all the styles that have influenced me up to now. I flow between two personas – sometimes I’m sweet and sassy; sometimes I’m screaming at you with an axe.”

Delilah Bon will be performing at The Leadmill on Thursday 29, September 2022. You can buy tickets to her show here: https://www.delilahbon.co.uk/tour

The self-titled album, Delilah Bon is out now on all streaming services, in good record shops and you can even buy it from her website here: https://www.delilahbon.co.uk/

Listen to the FULL and uncut interview with Delilah Bon and ‘Subscribe’ (for free) here: https://anchor.fm/chris-talks-music