Flying Dream 1 is Elbow’s pandemic album. For this record composed of eight hands held at a distance due to confinement, the members of the quartet wanted to reverse the recording process. They brought the songs to life together, live, in an old theater on the south coast of England.
The fact of having been recorded live gives an extra dimension to the album, a quality that allows one to perceive the love that has transcended during the execution of the pieces – this is frankly noticeable when you look at the last sessions of recording, filmed for an upcoming documentary. The album is deliberately sweet, as if Guy Garvey and his accomplices wanted to weave a heartwarming sound quilt to say thank you to life, despite everything.
The songs of Flying Dream 1 make you happy, and more so with every listen, whether it’s when Garvey talks about his young son in What Am I Without You or when he supports, in The Only Road, that he has never felt in a better place in his entire life.
The music is spellbinding, especially on The Seldom Seen Kid (nod to the title of the group’s fourth album, released in 2008), Sarah Field’s clarinet and saxophone and Craig Potter’s delicate piano building a case that perfectly highlights Garvey’s warm voice.
Is It a Bird offers another striking experience, the electro-textured drums of Alex Reeves being in perfect harmony with the bass of Peter Turner, used as always with parsimony and precision.
As for the title track, it is supported by the choirs of Wilson Atie, Adeleye Omotayo, Marit Røkeberg and Jesca Hoop, which give relief to the performance inspired by Guy Garvey, but also a soul flavor to the music of Elbow, a organic marriage worth exploring again.
Rock art
Flying Dream 1
Elbow
Polydor / Universal Music Group