Opting for more beguiling elements than the straight-forward punch, the hypnotic rather than the more obvious sonic tricks, the understated and hazy rather than the clean lines of mainstream pop, Running is a track that seems to invade your sense using a form of musical osmosis rather than the usual sensory methods. It is a track built on repetitive cycles and relentless grooves, consistent background dynamics and gentle sonic ebbs and flows. It is only the skittering beats that seem to stand out initially.
But the more that you listen to the track, the more it draws you in. The boy/girl vocals require that you meet the song halfway, their often half-heard tones and textures requiring that the listener leans into the song rather than the artists come to them. And it’s a neat card to play, in doing so the audience is already invested in the song, already drawn in by its spiralling sounds and understated nature already putting the effort in to understand the song and know more.
The wonderfully named Flight Take Charge is a musical ninja, juggling rap and R&B, electronica and no small amount of pop infectiousness and blending them into new forms of love songs, ones which are perfect for the alternative clubland dance floor but could also find a lot of traction with the musical movers and shakers of the more mainstream scenes. And his previous songs blend the same repetitious nature and relatively consistent dynamic plane, something which he has turned into a bit of a sonic signature and his own recognisable style.
It means that he can explore any number of the genre as he choses, Sonic Heroes was driven by a rock vibe, In Heaven was fashioned from languid R&B, Let’s Fly is modern, almost disco-inspired, electronic pop, but his songs are always recognisable by their cool creative footprint. Running is just the latest in a long line of releases, you can’t fault Flight Takes Charge’s work ethic.
More and more artists are abandoning the restraints of working in defined generic boundaries and artists Flight Take Charge are the result. Although there is a core sound built around electronica, alt-pop and chilled dance, Flight Takes Charge allows himself the room to play with whichever additional sounds and styles feel right, both from one song to the next and also within each individual track.
Flight Takes Charge is the perfect example of where the modern composer is today. Untethered by genre and musical tribalism, aided by modern tools and technology and making the music which feels right for them rather than trying to ride whichever musical zeitgeist the cool kids are currently locked into.
Shouldn’t all artists work this way?
