Faded Seaside Glamour is the debut studio album by English rock band Delays, released on 5 April 2004 through Rough Trade Records.

[1] The band gave the label a five-song acoustic demo that featured "Hey Girl", "Satellites Lost", "Wherever You Fall I Die", "Overlover" and "Hideaway".

[6] They started touring with acts Tim Burgess of the Charlatans, the Sleepy Jackson and the Thrills, which brought Delays attention from critics in Europe and the United States.

[7] Tim Den of Lollipop Magazine described the album's title Faded Seaside Glamour as an "abandoned boardwalk" that "still soaks up and reflects the summer sun, but is no longer the vibrant, cherished locale showered with people's love".

[10] Greg Gilbert said they also considered titling the album Our True Intent Is All for Your Delight, which is a reference to a book of photography by John Hinde.

[17] AllMusic reviewer MacKenzie Wilson said Gilbert provides a "lamblike falsetto, an intriguing arrangement that's both gentle and slightly unrefined" while Pitchfork contributor Stephen M. Deusner compared it to a "less abrasive Billy Corgan [of The Smashing Pumpkins] or a less earthy Mike Scott [of The Waterboys]".

[18][19] Some reviewers referred to Gilbert as the male version of Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac[20][21][22] or Cocteau Twins frontwoman Elizabeth Fraser.

[22][23][24] The opening track "Wanderlust" follows a Stone Roses-lite groove and is anchored around calypso-esque steel drums with Greg and Aaron Gilbert singing vocal harmonies.

[26][27] When Greg Gilbert wrote "Nearer Than Heaven" in 1998, he thought it dealt with Catholic guilt but in 2020 he said; "now I think it's about finding the transcendent in everyday life".

[28][29] The chorus section and vocal melody heard in "Long Time Coming" recall the later work of The Waterboys; on this track, Gilbert sings in a slightly rougher tone than that of the rest of the album.

[37] On "No Ending", Greg Gilbert emulates the vocal style of Brett Anderson from Suede, while the music recalls the work of Big Star and Jeff Buckley.

[17][41] "Stay Where You Are" toys with funk, and includes elements of the sound of The Cure and electronic music, and is followed by acoustic ballads "There's Water Here" and "Satellites Lost".

[48][49] The music video for "Nearer Than Heaven" shows friends on the band members plugging headphones into soil and nearby trees in New Forest National Park.

[56] Two editions were released on CD; the first with "Zero Zero One" and "Overlover" as extra tracks and the other includes "Whenever You Fall I Die" and the music video for "Hey Girl".

[18] Deusner said Gilbert has "an impressive voice: Earthbound, it has a grainy, adenoidal whine" that "sounds startling and strikingly androgynous" when reaching for high notes.

[19] The Guardian's Dorian Lynskey said Gilbert's "unashamedly effeminate, gossamer falsetto" acts as a "curveball", merging with "melodies so fresh they could have wafted in from across the Solent".

[75][22] According to No Ripchord writer D.C. Harrison, Gilbert is "in possession of a memorable voice that gives the song[s] an air of Cupid and Psyche '85 era Scritti Politti romanticism".

[76] In a positive review, Wilson called Faded Seaside Glamour an "honest presentation" that displays the band's "crisp musicianship and the foursome's lush harmonies".

[75] God Is in the TV writer Steven Daniels said Faded Seaside Glamour, unlike some albums that place the best tracks near the beginning, "picks up pace just when it needs to and there's no filler in sight".

[78] In a mixed review, Drowned in Sound's Tom Edwards wrote while Faded Seaside Glamour "falls somewhat flat on the quality meter", when the "formula works, the results are never less than glorious".