The Delines | The Set Up

The Delines were finishing the Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom sessions when Willy brought in a tune called “Walking With His Sleeves Down”. Amy learned it on piano and they recorded it live. Her take was stunning, but the song didn’t quite fit the record, so they set it aside along with “The Reckless Life”, “Dilaudid Diane” (featured in their recent encores), and “Jumping off in Madras”. The song worked sonically but again didn’t feel quite right lyrically, and when they finished the record Willy couldn’t stop writing songs for it. The US opioid epidemic, with thousands of young people rattled by addiction and living in tents, on the streets, and in old cars and RVs, influenced Luck and Doom but even more so The Set Up.

Their stalwart producer, John Morgan Askew, was at the helm again, and he’s the king of building atmospheric worlds. You can really feel it on this one. By the time they finished, they realized The Set Up was the wayward, misguided, and lonely sister to Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom — more ragged and undone, but all CinemaScope Delines.