Elbow - Flying Dream 1

by Zena Grieg

published: 23 / 12 / 2021

Label: Polydor
Format: CD

Reflective and soulful ninth album from much acclaimed Manchester quartet Elbow which was written and recorded during lockdown

Review

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