“Our relationship drives everything we do,” says the lead singer of indie-rock band FLIGHT BRIGADE — Ollie Baines.
“Our sound is all of our influences and the tension between them”. Flight Brigade’s capability lies in the reach of their songs, their obvious songwriting skill and the movement of their arrangements.
The seven-piece band, with violin, keyboards and electric guitars, also boasts some impressive intermixing of male/female vocals, and with their retro synths, they are bound to be compared to Arcade Fire or Fleetwood Mac. Ollie’s evocative story-milling set these artists apart from their peers.
The core of Flight Brigade is an actual family unit: Ollie (vox & rhythm guitar) and Miriam (vox & synth) are married. Miriam and violinist Dorry are sisters. They grew-up on a hippy commune in Hampshire where Ollie’s family settled, having moved from Ohio. Bassist Tom Clay, lead guitarist Thomas Pink, keyboardist Jonny Barker and drummer Neil Blandford were all childhood friends who lived nearby.
Flight Brigade create psychoactive potions of magical quality We’ve been fans of the band since “Sirens” [2014] which we described as having: “a clean and praising vocal […] mellowed by honeyed textures and heavenly, angelic blushes…”
In 2016 they released their debut album, ‘Our Friends Our Enemies’ that’s been described as “powerful [and] stunning.” The album’s title track was inspired by a story about Czech factory workers forced to make bombs for the Nazis.
The band’s forthcoming second album “Chased By Wolves” contains more provocative stories… and touches on sensitive subjects as it explores highly personalized topics. For example, songwriter and lyricist, Ollie Baines draws from personal experience when he describes the vulnerability of relationships (Heartbreaker, Tinderbox), or surviving improper advice in the music industry (Chased By Wolves) and he pays homage to his brother’s courageous battle with epilepsy (Brainwave).
In 2018 the band signed to Wixen Music Publishing (Neil Young, The Black Keys, Rage Against The Machine) and continue to have their music used in TV and film in the UK and US with ‘Made In Chelsea‘, Channel 4’s ‘Sunday Brunch’, E4’s ‘Tattoo Fixers’ and ‘The Boston Strangler’.
They release their new single ‘Fury Road’ on Friday 22nd March taken from ‘Chased By Wolves’ due 6th September via Wixen Music Publishing.
We had a listen:
There’s a Muse-like buzz on this that creates excitement from the very start… It is melodically creative, with sufficient masculine thrust (from voice & guitar) to push it beyond seventh heaven and into the moment. So it’s not fanciful, no, it’s vital. A reminder of the good ‘n’ bad in this world right now….
Yeah, the melody kinda reminds us of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” but that’s cool isn’t it? And, anyway, this composition is so much greater than the sum of its parts: it’s jazzy, it’s semi-classical and it’s avant-garde — but the piece comes across as one complete entity — and the outcome can only be described as a holy extravaganza of rock.
Check them out on their FURY ROAD tour [dates below] at a venue near you, soon.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/flightbrigademusic/
RAW RAMP 