Farewell Flight: Out For Blood

Farewell Flight has been around since 2005, and toiling mostly in obscurity, it seems. This is a shame, because the band’s new album Out for Blood is very good. This set of a dozen songs runs the gamut from disco-beat pop (“Begin Again”) to plaintive ballads (“A Lullaby for Insomniacs”), and each track is catchy and well-written. Singer Luke Foley is a strong songwriter and even better arranger. He seems to know just when to make the piano the lead instrument in a song, drop in a rhythm-guitar part, and occasionally use a synth or drum machine. Foley’s lyrics are generally relationship-based and aren’t exactly coming from a unique perspective, but the band’s musicality makes up for the run-of-the-mill words. The melancholy vocals of the title track contrast nicely with the upbeat guitar-pop of the music and the instant earworm of its chorus. Elsewhere, the band shows a command of gently rolling Americana on songs like “America Will Break Your Heart” and “Rope”. Farewell Flight even manages to finish strong, with the uplifting, slightly martial-sounding “Slow”. Out For Blood is one of the stronger albums I’ve heard in 2011, and hopefully Farewell Flight will get some recognition for it.