"Anyone who has caught the band live will know they can be truly transcendental" ['Endings' review]
NIGHTSHIFT - Flights of Helios, 'Endings' Review
by Sam Shepherd, Feb 2018
It’s hard to believe that this is Flights Of Helios’ debut album, as they’ve been around long enough to have an extensive back catalogue. Yet here we are with 'Endings’, a title that hopefully is not an indication of the band’s intentions following this album’s long overdue release.
Anyone who has caught the band live will know that when they’re at their best, they can be truly transcendental. Despite finding themselves defined as space rock, the truth is that Flights Of Helios take from an array of influences and fuse them into compositions that often straddle genres with ease. That said, 'Endings’ opens with a sprawling, cosmic epic in the shape of 'Donalogue’ that after a few minutes of undulating scene setting reaches its climax with vocalist Chris Beard repeatedly crooning the line “Sun, moon and stars”. In their repurposing of a traditional Irish folk ballad Flights Of Helios take in jazz breaks, eerie drones, and throw in a fair amount of pop nous for good measure. So yes, it’s space rock captain, but not as you know it.
There are a fair amount of straightforward pop hooks throughout the album, notably when the band are at their most direct: `Factory’ skips along with the same new wave energy that infused The Strokes in their earliest days, before blunting those sharpened guitar riffs with waves of blurring reverb. 'Funeral’, meanwhile, hints at the folkier aspects of Led Zep and the dark and brooding atmosphere of Nick Cave’s more unsettling work, but its most overriding influence seems to come from The Doors’ 'Crystal Ship’. That may be down to a threatening, seething organ and the chanted backing vocals which sound like the ruminations of a crew of damned sailors, but the song’s distinctly nautical theme only goes to further the connection.
The album finishes up with 'Cartographer’, a cover taken from Bleeding Heart Narrative’s 'Tongue Tangled Hair’ album. It’s a shimmering epic that not only showcases Chris Beard’s wonderful vocal capabilities, but also Flights Of Helios’ flexibility. Those that still miss Stornoway will find plenty to love here as the band toy with dynamics and beautiful melodies throughout. It might be a cover but in this form it takes on a new life, as it veers from abstraction to sharp focus before sprawling out once again like an apparently endless summer afternoon.
'Endings’ is a fine beginning, however delayed, and it’ll be interesting to see where Flights Of Helios go from here. On this evidence, the sun moon and stars are well within reach.