Preview Elbow's "hushed, night-time" new album 'Flying Dream 1'

Elbow will release a new album, Flying Dream 1, on November 19. The band wrote the album remotely during lockdown but came together at the Brighton Theatre Royal to “perfect, perform, and record the songs,” and it presents a quieter side of the band.

“We don’t phone each other for a chat,” says frontman Guy Garvey. “We don’t talk about life outside the music until we’re together. These hushed, night-time missives told us how each other were doing. When we finally got together, all that was to do was record the songs, honour them with amazing additional singers and players in a gorgeous space and catch up. It was beautiful.”

As for the “hushed night-time missives” vibe of the album, Garvey says, “We realised we were making a record free of the usual creative guidelines. We love patient, quiet, whole albums like the last Talk Talk records. John Martyn’s Solid Air and Bless the Weather, PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire, Chet Baker Sings, The Blue Nile’s Hats. Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love and Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. We’ve always written songs like this, but it felt natural to make an album that focuses on the gentler side of our music.”

As for Flying Dream 1‘s unique creation, Garvey says, “Recording in a splendid generous space with no audience was something that throws an anchor in the times that the record was made in.” You can get a taste of the album, including footage of them recording in the Brighton Theatre Royal, via the trailer below.

Tracklist:
1. Flying Dream 1
2. After the Eclipse
3. Is It a Bird
4. Six words
5. Calm and Happy
6. Come On, Blue
7. The Only Road
8. Red Sky Radio (Baby Baby Baby)
9. The Seldom Seen Kid
10. What Am I Without You