the indie pop "The Lost Estate". The Britpop aping of "May '45" is followed by "Hold Fire", which is a minimalist piano-centric ballad. "In Brilliant Sunshine" stars Aaron Gilbert on lead vocals, and evokes the sound of New Order. "Moment Gone" and "Lakes Can Be Lethal" harken back to the band's earlier sound; the album concludes with the progressive rock number "Star Tiger, Star Ariel". Release and reception Promotion In October 2009, Delays went on a tour of the UK, where they debuted material from their forthcoming album. On 21 April 2010, Star Tiger Star Ariel was announced for release in two months' time. Alongside this, the album's track listing was posted online, and "Find a Home (New Forest Shaker)" was made available as a free download from the band's website. In May and June 2010, they embarked on a second trek of the UK. "Unsung" was released as the album's lead single on 13 June 2010. They went on another tour of the UK in October 2010. Critical reception Star Tiger Star Ariel was met with mixed reviews from music critics. At AnyDecentMusic?, which assigns a normalized rating out of 10 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 5.7, based on ninereviews. AllMusic reviewer Jon O'Brien saw it as a "much more urgent, rock-led affair than its predecessors", though "still offers glimpses of their previous distinctive style". musicOMH Ben Hogwood said a number of the songs had "moments of pure beauty", with the band "delighting in exploring new sounds to go with Gilbert’s distinctive tones". Maria Schurr of PopMatters wrote that there were "signs of definite progression from their lovely if innocuous debut, Faded Seaside Glamour", and if they could improve on their lyrics, "then they may have something worth swooning over". Pitchfork contributor Ian Cohen noted that the band attempts to "reintroduc[e] themselves with every album", and with Star Tiger Star Ariel, the "strain to come on as strong as possible shows more than ever". He added that it felt "over-baked and impersonal" compared to their earlier releases. Drowned in Sound writer Simon Jay Catling said the album was "another disappointing reaffirmation that beyond their debut the group still haven’t really written a full record that stands up to sustained interest". Tom Edwards of NME echoed a similar sentiment, stating that "between the Killers-lite electro fluff and shoegaze flutterings lie a couple of