By In the lead up to the release of their debut album ‘The Loved Ones’ this Friday (25/08), Flyte have shared their fourth single release: ‘Faithless’.
‘Faithless’ follows the release of previous singles ‘Echoes’, ‘Victoria Falls’, and the dreamy narrative track ‘Cathy Come Home’. ‘Faithless’ has been around since 2013, but has only just (and finally) been given a studio release. I caught Flyte during their early summer tour when they played the Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham; the four-piece played a number of new songs from the upcoming album, but concluded the set off stage, in the middle of the room, with an acoustic rendition of ‘Faithless’: a song meaningful to them as it was ‘one of the first songs [they] wrote together as a band’.
‘Faithless’ recalls music of the late 60s; the track is almost immediately clearly heavily influenced by The Beatles, with a particular feel for a ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ era. The background vocals and harmonies of Will Taylor, Sam Berridge, Jon Supran, and Nick Hill are reminiscent of a The Beach Boys track, harkening back to tracks like ‘Don’t Worry Baby’, and the emotional melodic nature of the ‘Pet Sounds’ album.
It may sound a bold claim to make comparisons to such lyrical and melodic genius; ‘Faithless’ is an addictive piece of music to keep you captivated from its gentle piano opening, to its powerful outro. ‘The Loved Ones’ has all the promise of a very strong debut.
Strong, classic singles like ‘Faithless’ give me a lot of faith in Friday’s album release. The debut, taking its name from the Evelyn Waugh novel ‘The Loved One’ (as Flyte takes their band name from ‘Brideshead Revisited’), is set to be an amalgamation of literary allusions (see Ken Loach, and some beautiful narrative lyricism) and stunning harmonies, as well as a studio version of their cover of Alvvays’ ‘Archie, Marry Me’.
You can hear Flyte’s debut album this Friday (25th), and catch them on tour next month, because nothing compares to hearing them live:
September
15 – Southampton – The Joiners
16 – Brighton – Patterns
19 – London – Scala
25 – Cambridge – Portland Arms
26 – Norwich – The Waterfront Studio
27 – Wolverhampton – Newhampton Arts Centre
28 – Cardiff – Gwdihŵ Café Bar
30 – Leicester – The Cookie
October
1 – Oxford – The Cellar
2 – Guildford – Boileroom
4 – Hull – The Polar Bear
5 – Leeds – Chapel
6 – York – The Fulford Arms
7 – Manchester – Neighbourhood Festival
9 – Nottingham – The Bodega
10 – Birmingham – Academy 3
11 – Liverpool – Buyers’ Club
12 – Bristol – Exchange
