Blow Up Hollywood’s music is surreal, if one has to characterize it literally; there is no better way to describe the band’s’ style, which doesn’t always sound like absolute music. Take Flight is a soundtrack for the introspective and the forlorn. This is an album of moods rather than music. The tunes on this record are without any vocals or percussive elements. The only thing that comes close to vocals is faint – almost eerily nonexistent – spoken words that make a brief appearance on “Aerial Shift,” which can easily go unnoticed, if not paid deep attention to.
This particular demeanor of vocals pretty much sums up the nature of the entire disc. Take Flight is an album of musical pieces, which have little discernible instruments. On few occasions like “Phoenixes And Pheasants,” the music is more upfront, even though it is still very hushed like that on the rest of the album. Likewise, “Take Flight” is also accessible, not only because of the very distinct and familiar sound of the pianos, but also because of its hauntingly melodic tune that is instantly captivating.
Even with the album’s abstract nature, Take Flight is not minimalist techno in the conventional sense. Although the album reflects a glimpse of the early techno sounds of the seventies with some throbbing lethargic synths on “States Of Matter,” this stuff is a far cry from trippy techno of Aphex Twin. In fact this music – due to its dreaminess – has more in common with a band like Sigur Rós, if a comparison needs to be made.
This is a disc that needs attention to be made any sense of what lies beneath its quieted surface. For such a vague and unconventional release, Take Flight is fairly uncomplicated. And for its banausic nature, Take Flight is intense and marvelous; it all lies in what the senses are willing pick up from beneath the album’s blanket of silence.
