Elbow - Flying Dream 1

  by Zena Grieg

published: 23 / 12 / 2021

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The Greater Manchester quartet Elbow have just released their ninth studio album, a follow-up to the 2019 ‘Giants Of All Sizes’. Conceived during lockdown and recorded in the empty, atmospheric Theatre Royal in Brighton, ‘Flying Dream 1’ is a reflective, soulful collection, focusing on love and loss, family relationships and being a parent. The band led by frontman and lyricist Guy Garvey, are accompanied by long-term collaborator Alex Reeves on percussion and drums, Sarah Field on clarinet and saxophone and London Contemporary Voices on backing vocals. Highlights of this melodious ten-track album include: the opener and nostalgic title track, evoking childhood memories; the poignant, minimalist jazz-layered third track, written two days after the death of his mother-in-law Diana Rigg; ‘Is It a Bird?’ with its mournful saxophone and moving lyrics: “Is it a bird?/Is it a plane?/Or is it a jettisoned beautiful warrior’s soul/Blazing ‘cross the sky on its way back home?”; ‘Six Words’, which starts out quietly as a piano-led ballad, building momentum, enhanced by additional instrumentation and backing vocals; the stripped-back, acoustic ‘Come On Blue’ with its defiant lyrics: “Love transcends anything that ever ends”; the sorrowful, bittersweet, waltzlike ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ in memory of Garvey’s friend Brian Clancy; and the closer, the upbeat love song ‘What I Am Without You’, for Garvey’s wife Rachael Stirling. A versatile album, ‘Flying Dream 1’ is a slow burner, which leaves a lasting imprint.

Track Listing:-

1 Flying Dream 1
2 After the Eclipse
3 Is It a Bird
4 Six Words
5 Calm and Happy
6 Come On, Blue
7 The Only Road
8 Red Sky Radio (Baby Baby Baby)
9 The Seldom Seen Kid
10 What Am I Without You

Band Links:-

https://elbow.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/Elbow
https://twitter.com/elbow

Play in YouTube:-

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