FLIGHT OF ICARUS – Cleo (2021)
Perhaps the best way to get an idea about the music of FLIGHT OF ICARUS and their new album “Cleo” is to mention a line from their press release; ‘Imagine powerful pop songs in the vein of Roxette with a tasteful touch of Heart and Starship’.
Of course the songwriting skills doesn’t reach the heights of these consummate acts, but this female-fronted band from Gothenburg, Sweden, certainly has talent. Adding a metallic set of guitar riffs and a punchy production to their melodic rock power-pop songs, for the most part of “Cleo” FLIGHT OF ICARUS unabashedly succeeds.
”Cleo” weaves a tale of magic and splendor across ten vividly illuminating tracks, framed in a broad body of ’80s female melodic power pop-rock driven by an engine of precise, definitively Swedish metal riffs. The resultant album is one that encourages you to reflect on your ideas of metal while almost simultaneously lifting you up and carrying you away from any of your preconceived notions.
Melodies dance on dark undertones of power chords and sonic assault. The aptly titled “In The Beginning” is an instrumental opener which builds over three and a half minutes to welcome you into the cinematic world of the new record and Flight Of Icarus.
As the album artwork by Fredrik Bäck would imply, ”Cleo” is a beacon in a darkness that lifts you up and carries you into a realm of imagination with the mesmerizing hooks of “Our Burning Star,” the vintage-to-modern arching of “Love Will Lead You Home,” and the six-and-a-half-minute fireside storytelling of “The Cleo Story”.
In total, six of the ten tracks come in at over five minutes, yet the captivating vocals, synth / guitar world created in ”Cleo” swirls into a dynamic story you won’t want to let go of, much less count the seconds.
Sweeping strokes of beautiful harmony laid down by Särnefält Rösehag laid against a bold metal landscape devised by Frantzen is nothing but stupendous in execution and even better on the whole.
The youthful energy emanating from ”Cleo” is awe inspiring. The dichotomy of Frantzén and Särnefält Rösehag is magical. ”Cleo” is a record that reaches out and grabs the hand of your inner innocence while walking side-by-side with you down a path of formidable instrumentals, finding the beauty and balance in it all.
You’ll quickly find out why carving out 53 minutes to run ”Cleo” end-to-end is time well spent.
Highly Recommended
01 – In the Beginning
02 – Our Burning Star
03 – Fly Away
04 – Love Will Lead You Home
05 – Stay With Me
06 – Departure
07 – We All Die Young
08 – Cleo
09 – The Cleo Story
10 – Come Give Me Love
Elisabeth Särnefält Rösehag – vocals, keys
Oskar Frantzen – guitar, bass, drums, synths
BUY
www.worldoficarus.com/
