Flying Carpets - Light The Beacons

My favourite Argentinian band is back with their latest release, ‘Light The Beacons’! This is Flying Carpets’ fourth LP and it must be said that while one can certainly distinguish their sound album to album, there is a clear new direction with every release and that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable run of their discography from start to finish. If you’re looking for some easy summertime listening this sunny season then search no further!

Blowing in with the ‘Winds of Tomorrow’, there is a synth-heavy entry with what seems could be an upbeat shoe gaze tune of some sort. There is a very specific ambient atmosphere through the first verse that is met with a crunchier guitar leading the way through the second. With some welcomed “strife as we go” between clean and spacey as well grit and earthy, we are rewarded with a near 80s hair metal solo complete with guitarmonies! “Finding new life in the sun”, we are given an unexpected twist along the vocal solo at the end with accompanying harmonica! I did not see this coming at all but it was a wonderful way to mix together the band’s influences from The War On Drugs to Bruce Springsteen; influences one might not think could jive well together but, surprisingly, very much do! A breath of fresh air definitely rolling in on the ‘Winds of Tomorrow’.

‘In Another Life’, I would have got to this review way sooner, but I’m glad I’m hitting it up now before the summer really takes off because this album is perfect for summer fun! Flying Carpets has an amazing way to sing of the sorrows of life and yet still make the listener feel good about it. No matter what feelings may have existed ‘In Another Life’, even the band’s most low-key tunes make for easy listening and a sort of peaceful feeling that can only really seem to come from those who have, for lack of a better way of putting it, been through the shit. Another great guitar solo filled with even more guitarmonies takes this song to a whole other level and really does elevate it up and beyond the ethereal quality the track already had. I love that the guitar riff is all that’s left at the end and it leaves the listener hanging almost as though the next track might pick up where this one left off…

I mean, it doesn’t because we head right on through to the ‘Badlands’ which has what I hear to be quite a Sting influence from the guitar riff that is reminiscent of ‘Every Breath You Take’ as well as the powerful vocals. Again, there is a dark quality to this tune but it is so uplifting. Even the discordance at the end of the first chorus that brings a sort of music pull really lends to the carefree quality of the piece. It’s always as though these guys are just constantly rising out of the mire of some downtrodden life experience because their music is so rife with melancholic contentment. Guaranteed this track is now on my regular rotation. There is certainly Dave Gilmour and Pink Floyd influence in this piece. The guitar tone for the solo is very reminiscent and the track itself brings up shades of ‘Learning To Fly’ and other like Floyd tunes.

‘Lenient Days’ indeed bring a ‘Wish You Were Here’ feel, all the way to the effected rhythm guitar and the very pronounced opening lead acoustic as well. Immediately, we’re brought to a more subdued Springsteen vibe with an interesting dash of ‘War Is Over’ by John Lennon, just with the subtle add-ons in the rhythm guitar (way better harmonies than what Yoko can provide though). I mean…“carry me away” with some Simon & Garfunkel harmonies and synth keys from their Live At Central Park performance as well. Unreal the masterful melange of musical influences that find their way into this album. This nearly seven-minute epic has a number of fun changes from demure synthetic slumber to some crunchy rhythm raucous, always with a wonderfully grounded but thick bass line. The acoustic solo is a great change up from the previous tracks that takes the listener all the way to the end with mellow spacing and energetic playing.

I think I’ll have to ‘Bless The Change’ on this one because there is something wholly different about this piece. A solemn acoustic piece with minimal synth, big bass, easy drums and smooth vocals. And then they kick it up with a guitar solo that completes the analysis I thought to give this track being relegated to a sort of 90s alt-rock ballad, which I am certainly not complaining about. It’s a sort of Eagle-Eye Cherry/Sixpence None The Richer vibe.

I think, for this one, these guys were ‘Dreaming’ On The Day’ that they were Bruce Springsteen. The incredible ‘Born To Run’ Feel I got as soon as the song kicked in was incredible. I actually had to stop the track just to hammer out this very statement! They even have what sounds like a synth sax buried in the mix of the intro. I wonder if Clarence would approve! Even the “baby” thrown in here and there is very heavy Springsteen. I think this just became Marla’s new favourite “indie” song of the summer! And I may have to eat my words about the synth sax because there is very much a sax solo in this piece and I think Clarence would very much approve. If I’m not mistaken, this song might actually be in the exact key and time signature and structure of ‘Born To Run’ and I think there should be a mash-up sometime in the near future.

‘The Poet’ is a big fan of heavy synth, it seems, but it’s all to drop the listener into an unexpected 80s hair metal ballad a la Bad English’s ‘When I See You Smile’. I love playing this game of musical influences. It actually makes me smile way more than I think it should. I should take a moment to point out that no matter how many pieces of other songs I hear in this album, this is still, as said above, very clearly a Flying Carpets album. I just can’t help but hear the little bits of other tracks which, if nothing else, will certainly help the band push forward, especially since their influences are so broad. This makes their work so open for music lovers of many genres. Beyond how this track begins with that 80s ballad vibe, it is entirely unique by the time the intro is reprised to bookend the piece…and I love the organ to help carry out the finish.

I did certainly not expect sudden accordion to carry the last song of the album through ‘All Day, All Days’. The group chorus and the sing-song nature of this piece is a wonderful way to finish out the album. A rather uplifting tune that seems to be about the aging traditions and tragedies of nations and how, perhaps, we should be moving beyond to start fresh and enjoy what we can before it’s gone. At least, that’s the vibe I get from the track. I can see many people gathered about swinging drinks in the air whilst they join in the chorus saying that they “will be honest, and this now [they] promise, All Day, All Days”. Wonderfully done! I hope that they did use legit applause from those singing on the track with them. I guess I’ll never know until I manage an interview with them to talk about the album!

Either way, do make sure to check out this album in full right HERE and give these guys some support from wherever you are in the world. This is a great summer album for sitting out in the sun on the patio or the beach, or for lying out in the hammock, enjoying the shade. Even a backyard barbecue would be ideal! Speaking of which…I’m going to raise a glass with a few people ‘All Day, All Days’. Just remember to ‘Light The Beacons’ and Rohan will answer…eventually!