There is a place here on earth where a band with the sounds of !Deladap should enjoy the sickening celebrity of pop stars. That place is unfortunately nowhere near where I live. That would give me reason to respect the artistic inclination of the masses. For which I have none. Deladap call their style Nu Roma, or "The Urban Gypsy Sound". You are likely to file them under something like Balkan Beat, right next to the recent works of Shantel and Boban Markovic. There is something about this style of music that just makes you smile and want to jump around a room, or street.

1. !Dela Dap - The Song
2. Kaj tu Salas
3. Cherhaya
4. Sara
5. Lisa Lisa
6. Shukar Dijes
7. Raczake Shavora
8. Radost
9. Imar Aven
10. Gadoro
11. Radost - The Musical Box

The album I'm talking about is called Sara la Kali, and this album title is no random or insignificant choice. Sara la Kali is the Roma name of Saint Sarah (aka Sarah the Black), patron saint of the Gypsy people. As I see it, that makes this work both an homage and personal challenge to the band. Its core audience will know very well what the title represents, and that will undoubtedly set some high expectations among those listeners.

Gypsy's are storied both for their cultural rules, and their willingness to ignore most others, so the music on this album mixes all imaginable tempos and a good range of cultures, but even at its slowest, maintains a life-loving bounce that flavors everything. Even if the lyrical topics (which I have no insight to) were morose, judging by the tone of the music and sweetness of the female singing voices, you'd probably still be grinning happily as you listened and swayed yourself left and right. Chances are, these are mostly songs about love, family and culture (just a guess). So go ahead and bounce happily! it's what you're supposed to do anyway.

There is a strong element of "pop" throughout the vocal melodies and an Austrian R&B sensibility to the music, even when that R&B style is being played out on gypsy guitar strings. You can't avoid feeling the pop pressure, so if that's a deal breaker for you, you're bound to skip a number of songs on this album. However, if Balkan Beat is your bag, I don't think you'll be scared off by a few heavy pop choruses. By all rights you'd be disappointed if they weren't there.

The players and singers have skill for sure. With their skill and cultural diversity, they've taken in a wide range of musical influences and seamlessly incorporated them into a unified and thoroughly engaging Roma sound. There are some Balkan gems on here, so give it your time.

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