Label: Island Records
Released: 9th April 2021
Debut album ‘The Loved Ones’ was always going to be a tough act to follow, but soaring folk outfit Flyte stay in their stride with second record ‘This Is Really Going To Hurt’.
Immediate, urgent, and laced with the painful sting of heartache, ‘This Is Really Going To Hurt’ tells the story of a break-up. It sees the band go through the motions, confronting their partner, mourning what was and, finally, finding solace in moving on.
Dressed in warm folkscapes of slow-moving guitars, swooning strings and heartfelt vocals, the record is surprisingly soft-spoken. Where you would expect screaming resentment or wailing sorrow – anything that would rip your heart into pieces without any hope of mending – Flyte keep their temper in check. ‘Easy Tiger’ seems to be the motto. For the most part. It’s in tension-stained songs like ‘Trying To Break Your Heart’ or ‘There’s A Woman’, where bitterness and frustration start to seep through, soaking Will Taylor’s strained vocals in thick clouds of reverb.
Carefully scattered like bombs on a minefield are the songs that pull you back into the moment, into the pain that ‘This Is Really Going To Hurt’ promises on its cover. “You’ve stripped me of everything, and I hate you, I really do, still I don’t think I’ll get used to losing you” – hook, line and sinker. With such dangerously crafted lyrical arrows, ‘Losing You’ and ‘Mistress America’ prove that Flyte have never been and will never be a band that lets you off easily. Instead, they leave you with a hole in your chest, and a pit in your stomach.
Though less on the nose, ‘This Is Really Going To Hurt’ is unmistakably a Flyte album. A collection of poignant songs handpicked by a band that excels in conveying emotion through sound and breaking your heart one harmony at a time.
