The London four-piece Flyte emerged back in 2014 with their debut single ‘We Are The Rain’, released at the time through Transgressive Records, following the attention given to it by Zane Lowe and Fearne Cotton. It was this single too, that pricked up the ears of Island Records, home to the likes of Florence & The Machine, Drake and Catfish & The Bottlemen – safe to say some of the bigger names in the industry. It was through Island that Flyte began to make more of a permanent imprint of their saccharine indie-pop. The two single deal initially signed in 2015 led to the release of ‘Closer Together’ and ‘Please Eloise’ – the former of which was remixed by label mate Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club.

Understandably, when Burke Reid, who has also worked with Courtney Barnett, offered up his production duties in 2016, Flyte were already on a well-earned path to success with their major label debut LP. The Loved Ones sits well within the pop world that any major would like their artist to fit in: seamlessly working on nostalgia, coming-of-age stoicism and thematic lyrical depictions of love, life and death. It’s a universally understood album that works well, despite occasionally drifting awfully close to cliché.

Where the album works best, it provides a toned-down take on their often too-sickly sweet indie. ‘Faithless’ drifts close to the borders of The Kinks with its slapdash intro and flirtatious stutter into the verse, from here frontman Will Taylor and his cohorts belt into a humongous chorus. ‘Victoria Falls’ offers fantastic diversity with a sumptuous rhythmic groove and ‘Sliding Doors’ leans close to the bombastic psych-pop of Tame Impala’s ‘Cause I’m A Man’. Taylor and his accomplices Sam Berridge, Jon Supran and Nick Hill have an obvious disposition to pen a hook – in fact, there is no denying their songwriting ability whatsoever. The luscious folk harmonies of ‘Annie & Alastair’ are reminiscent of Fleet Foxes’ finer moments, with toppling guitar parts that are equally as crushing as they are seductive and ‘Spiral’, a track that paints the backdrop of a neon Californian sunset whilst fully embracing the flexibility of The Flaming Lips’ lysergic take on the pop world.

The Loved Ones evidences their ability to mix sounds, genres and instruments with ease and, arguably, without too much cautiousness or hesitancy between. Where they struggle though, is when they fall into very tired indie pastiche. ’Little White Lies’ shows a band that are trying to shape shift slightly too much, but in trying to move all the time, they seem to fall through the doors of One Night Only (God, they were awful), Good Shoes (remember ‘Morden’?) and The Feeling (never mind). ‘Cathy Come Home’ paints this slightly dismal picture further, a stand out track on the album but unfortunately for no good reason whatsoever; the track is syrupy sweet, and no dental work is going to save you from this – that chorus could make you wince.

A surprising and nice touch on the album sits with the closer, a carefully crafted cover of Alvvays’ ‘Archie, Marry Me’. Taking the initial dream-pop number and adding a further ethereal quality to it deepens the heartbreaking tensions that the original dictated so well. The cover version pays tribute to a theme that the band adopted last year following a successful cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’ that went on to attain over one million streams. From the hurricane of success that followed their version, the band began curating covers nights around London’s landmarks with a particular focus on their unique vocal arrangement. Something that helps pay amazing dividends to ‘Archie, Marry Me’.

There is a sense throughout The Loved Ones of a band trying to challenge themselves constantly. The songwriting is complicated, but never confused, the sounds are variant – occasionally perhaps too ambitious – but, on the whole, show versatility and the talent of each member is obviously exceptionally high. The standout tracks are very much anthemic, touching upon cornerstones laid bare by Perth’s psych-rock circuit, as well as finding comfort with the pop grandeur of The 1975 and the slightly retro tinge of the British bands of the 60s. Safe to say this probably won’t cause groundbreaking movements in the music world, but it’ll certainly provide a nice part of the band’s catalogue in the future.

Tom Churchill

Website: flytetheband.com
Facebook: facebook.com/flyteband
Twitter: twitter.com/Flyteband