The Set Up
The Delines
The Set Up is The Delines’ 2026 album, conceived as a companion piece to 2025’s Mr Luck & Ms Doom and once again pairing Willy Vlautin’s short‑story‑like songs with Amy Boone’s smoky, lived‑in vocals. The record unfolds like a crime novella set on the economic margins of America: a loose narrative about a botched heist and its emotional fallout runs through the three spoken‑word title tracks (“The Set Up Part 1–3”), which are threaded between songs such as “Can You Get Me Out Of Phoenix,” “Jumping Off In Madras,” “Dilaudid Diane,” “Keep The Shades Down,” “The Reckless Life,” and “The Meter Keeps Ticking.” Musically, it leans into the band’s signature slow‑burn soul‑country blend—muted horns, organ, piano, and understated rhythm section—giving the album a dusky, cinematic atmosphere that recalls 70s country‑soul and bar‑band R&B more than slick Americana.
Lyrically, Vlautin focuses on small‑time grifters, addicts, and worn‑down lovers whose schemes are driven less by greed than by desperation in a landscape with no safety net. Characters plot robberies, hole up in budget motels, and try to stay ahead of dealers and landlords, yet Boone’s delivery keeps them sympathetic, emphasizing tenderness and fragile hope even as their choices betray them. Critics highlight the album’s narrative cohesion and “soundtrack” quality, noting how the instrumental interludes (“Getting Out Of The Ward,” the shifting “Set Up” pieces) deepen the mood and how the slow‑building arrangements let the stories and imagery sink in, making The Set Up a quietly devastating, film‑noir‑on‑vinyl experience rather than a collection of stand‑alone singles.
The Set Up
The Delines
The Set Up is The Delines’ 2026 album, conceived as a companion piece to 2025’s Mr Luck & Ms Doom and once again pairing Willy Vlautin’s short‑story‑like songs with Amy Boone’s smoky, lived‑in vocals. The record unfolds like a crime novella set on the economic margins of America: a loose narrative about a botched heist and its emotional fallout runs through the three spoken‑word title tracks (“The Set Up Part 1–3”), which are threaded between songs such as “Can You Get Me Out Of Phoenix,” “Jumping Off In Madras,” “Dilaudid Diane,” “Keep The Shades Down,” “The Reckless Life,” and “The Meter Keeps Ticking.” Musically, it leans into the band’s signature slow‑burn soul‑country blend—muted horns, organ, piano, and understated rhythm section—giving the album a dusky, cinematic atmosphere that recalls 70s country‑soul and bar‑band R&B more than slick Americana.
Lyrically, Vlautin focuses on small‑time grifters, addicts, and worn‑down lovers whose schemes are driven less by greed than by desperation in a landscape with no safety net. Characters plot robberies, hole up in budget motels, and try to stay ahead of dealers and landlords, yet Boone’s delivery keeps them sympathetic, emphasizing tenderness and fragile hope even as their choices betray them. Critics highlight the album’s narrative cohesion and “soundtrack” quality, noting how the instrumental interludes (“Getting Out Of The Ward,” the shifting “Set Up” pieces) deepen the mood and how the slow‑building arrangements let the stories and imagery sink in, making The Set Up a quietly devastating, film‑noir‑on‑vinyl experience rather than a collection of stand‑alone singles.