The era of the Supergroup really started in the late 60's with barely a week going by without rumours of various musicians leaving their current groups to go form a new combo normally with Steve WInwood or Ginger Baker being in the mix.
Here in the world of UK Americana for a short while we had our own little supergroup Dahlia featuring Lisa Wright, Paris Georgia and Jess Roberts who only managed 2 recordings and a number of electric live perfomances - they burnt bright but sadly not for very long.
Well the age of the supergroup is with us once more and the solo careers of Jake Morrell, Poppy Fardell, Vicki Manser and Tim Prottey-Jones would seem to be on hold as they emerge as a combined force - First Time Flyers.
Like all good mysteries the clues were staring us in the eyes - Jake & Poppy just happening to be passing at Tim's early morning Long Road slot, the three of them passing us by while we were queueing for entry into Carly Pearce - clearly something was cooking and "Happier" is a most welcome starter.
In theory, you'd think having 4 talented songwriters on the team would be enough however for this debut single the talents of songstress supreme Kaity Rae have also been drafted in to make sure that the First Time Flyers lift off successfully. So what happens when you combine 4 talents including arguably the UK's finest Americana producer - well naturally a well produced piece of something special.
This debut "Happier" asks the hardest of questions - could you love someone so much that you would break up with them to make them happy knowing that you would be heartbroken.
"I’ve been losing hours thinking bout us
I’m praying there’s a silver lining
Baby tell me I did the right thing!
It all leads to a chorus that is full of doubt and wanting reassurance that the right course of action has been taken
"(Do) You know that I’m hurting, tell me it was worth it
Are you happy are you happier ?
You don’t even know but all I ever wanted
Was to see you happy are you happier?"
Musically First TIme Flyers are being pitched as somewhere between Fleetwood Mac and Lady A and it is a comparison that holds up pretty well, there is certainly a polished classy feel to the production. There is a big chunky drum sound, swathes of guitars including a solo, and some subtle keyboard work that all go to make the purest of pop sounds - as you would expect from a quartet with a good ear for a hook or two
For this introductory single the vocals are distributed fairly evenly across the band with everyone joining in on the choruses - it'll be interesting to see if this is their working model going forward and what effect this has on their lyric writing if the vocals keep switching from male to female. For now let's just savour a piece of perfection to start 2023 and see where the First Time Flyers next destination is.