Away from the roar and tumult of the outside world, Flyte have found peace. Their third, self-titled album is a distinctly insular affair, basking in the glow of new love to find joy in the everyday.
In songs written across the room from his partner, fellow musician Billie Marten, frontman Will Taylor puts the bitterness that consumed him on 2021’s This is Really Going to Hurt in his rearview mirror. Where those tracks felt the sting of betrayal and the pain of a long-term relationship coming to an end, Flyte sees Taylor full of tenderness – in his voice and instrumentation, too.
He sings of a different kind of wedding vow on “Even on Bad Days” while “Don’t Forget About Us”, a collaboration with Marten, offers fragmented memories that glint in the light like a mirror mosaic. Laura Marling pops her head in for “Tough Love”, a breezy ode to the inner workings of codependency and bad habits. (An alternate version of the same song released last month sees Florence Pugh harmonising with Taylor instead; the accompanying music video sees the Oscar nominee perched opposite Taylor and bandmate Nick Hill in the breakfast nook of Taylor’s east London home.)
There’s something very English about the band’s folk-leaning sound, right down to Taylor’s playful songwriting. “Love is a tangerine healer/ It makes life an easy peeler,” he sings on “Better Than Blue”. You can almost hear the rain pattering against the window pane on cosy opener “Speech Bubble”, and see the flicker of flames emulated in the acoustic guitar-picking of “Perfect Dark”. Like an arm slung around your shoulder, Flyte is an album to keep you warm on a winter night.
‘Flyte’ is out via Nettwerk
