<p><span><span>- Melbourne four-piece Flyying Colours have taken their time on their follow-up to 2016’s superb <em>Mindfulness</em> album and the results are very pleasing indeed. While their previous album took the group’s trademark shoegaze textures and honed them into hook-filled toe-tappers, the new record stretches their compositions out a little. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Those who discovered Flyying Colours via their previous work will still be delighted with <em>Fantasy Country</em>, which combines the indie earworms of earlier days with a larger palette of sounds and a more open-ended approach to song direction. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>The eight songs are divided into a shoegaze pop opening half and a more experimental second half. However, the changes in direction are not so stark as to suddenly force the listener into more challenging waters. Rather, the more deliberately paced final four songs take the hazy dreaminess of the guitar pop that starts the record, and lets them expand into krautrock and ambient-inspired pieces. The result is an album that shape-shifts while simultaneously having a consistent and focused mood. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Opening the album is first single <em>Goodtimes</em> (sic) which confidently begins the record with the band’s reassuringly strong grasp of melody. Next up is follow-up single <em>Big Mess</em> which spices things up a little with a more frantic, pacey delivery. The gentler but equally catchy tracks <em>OK </em>and <em>It’s Real</em> conclude the “pop” half, before <em>White Knuckles</em> heads for the horizon backed by a <strong>Klaus Dinger</strong>-esque <strong>Neu!</strong> beat. <em>Boarding Pass</em> makes for a suitably gorgeous album closer, wrapping things up in a vaporous, space rock bow. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>It should also be mentioned that the coronavirus meant a delay in releasing the album, which was initially ready for release in the early days of the pandemic. From the comparative safe haven of Australia, Flyying Colours release this album just as people are starting to dance at gigs again! Let’s hope we can all be swaying along to this fine quartet in the very near future. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Matt Thrower.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3506104507/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="https://flyyingcolours.bandcamp.com/album/fantasy-country">Fantasy Country by Flyying Colours</a></iframe>