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Jun 08, 2026 Web Exclusive By Haydon Spenceley

Some records are simply, and in the best way possible do I mean this, satisfying. Such is Run, Run Pure Beauty, the second album from Francis of Delirium (aka Luxembourg-based musician Jana Bahrich). It builds on the significant promise of her debut full-length, Lighthouse, from 2024, as classic songwriting is allied to real musical muscle. The opening salvo of “Aliens”—which deceptively begins with a symphonic brass-led intro before exploding into a sumptuous mid-tempo chorus replete with crunchy guitars—and the driving “Out Tonight” provide just the right kinds of shocks to the system, each containing the perfect production and mix payoffs that had this reviewer nodding along appreciatively. Following this with the title track—which is equal parts full of heft and a pleasing wooziness of vocal and guitar layers and sounds perfect for cinematic soundtrack possibilities—is a triumph of sequencing.

“Higher” carries itself like peak period Fleetwood Mac in the verses before power chords in the chorus lift it…higher while at the same time vocally the song is bestowed with the kind of chorus that a pop titan like Florence + the Machine would sit atop radio charts for months with.

That the same artist can offer a song so surefire radio for chart success on the same record as “Requiem for a Dying Day”—which builds from an ambient, folk-esque beginning to a glorious crescendo-ing outro full of crunchy guitars and vocal falsetto—is testament to her brilliance. She then sequences this next to “Modern Madonna”—it begins like peak period Cardigans before unleashing a full throttle cut-time chorus, which is one of several the listener will find themselves humming and humming and humming again. The album closes with “It’s a Beautiful Life,” which does an excellent job of counter-intuitively increasing the tempo for the final song of a fantastic record.

There are so many ideas here musically, in terms of production and mix that it would take a detailed essay to analyze all of them. Run, Run Pure Beauty is a record that grabs you from the get-go, does not let up, and yet at the same time is layered and nuanced enough to not just reward but to demand repeated listens. (www.francisofdelirium.com)

Author rating: 8/10