Fresh from the release of debut album, ‘The Loved Ones’, the prospect of seeing a British act who so seamlessly combine the beauties of vintage revivalism and contemporary culture is truly exciting. However a question is begged of how the live performance will live up to the record.
Local singer/songwriter, ELANA is dealt with opening responsibilities, warming up the already well-populated audience with a fusion of blissful melodics and utopian vocal displays. ELANA’s music floats about the room, stroking ears and touching hearts from the core of a guitar/vocal combination to envy.
Maintaining the peacefulness of the place, ELANA is followed by Humble He, another Leicester singer/songwriter quickly able to plant a Buckley-inspired imprint on the evening. Humble He displays complex string-work and elegantly hollow vocals to educate the thickening crowd of melancholy cold.
Flyte take to the low stage of The Cookie and fly into gear with a performance of 2017 single, ‘Victoria Falls’. The small room is filled with the joys of pop sensibility, and the eloquent energy of harmonic heartbeats.
The band subtly shuffle about the stage, as synth licks and string flicks dance about the track. The sound smiles, projecting pleasantries across the walls, as the quartet relax both themselves and the crowd with frequent audience engagement between numbers.
While typically, frontman Will Taylor’s (vocals/guitar) regular conversational interludes would detrimentally break the flow of such a set, his personality and laughs endear the crowd, characterising the music’s quaint profile with anecdotal snippets into the artistic origins of tracks such as, ‘Sliding Doors’.
Flyte take you back, but bring you forward, taking historic conquests on an unforgettable contemporary trip. The band fuse musical archaisms with technological triumphs, as they juxtapose ’60s-revivalist four-part harmonies with electronic ostinatos of disco domination.
We are introduced to a cast of characters, as ‘Annie and Alistair’ employ Beatle-pop acoustic-work alongside a chorus to take your trouble away. All the while, ‘Cathy Come Home’ reinforces similarly reminiscent joys, celebrated with a singalong chorus of precious memory.
The London four conclude the show with an intimate acapella performance of ‘Archie, Marry Me’, before taking ‘Faithless’ into the crowd for a rousing end to a memorable night. Flyte compile the blisses of symbolic sounds past and present, creating live performance almost literary in depth.
Flyte’s UK tour will continue on until 12th October 2017, closing in Bristol at Exchange. See full list of remaining dates below.
Flyte’s UK Tour Dates:
Wed 4 Oct 2017 | The Polar Bear, Hull
Thu 5 Oct 2017 | Chapel, Leeds
Fri 6 Oct 2017 | The Fulford Arms, York
Sat 7 Oct 2017 | Neighbourhood Festival, Manchester
Mon 09 Oct 2017 | The Bodega, Nottingham
Tue 10 Oct 2017 | Academy 3, Birmingham
Wed 11 Oct 2017 | Buyers’ Club, Liverpool
Thu 12 Oct 2017 | Exchange, Bristol
For further information on Flyte, visit their Website.
