Mothership. Flying Horseman

Is it possible to be reminded of David Sylvian, Roxy Music mach II and Talking Heads in one song? Yes, it is. 'Where Do You Live?' holds all this within itself. The repetitive, though soft and delicate rhythm could have been a Talking Heads ballad, the eastern connotation in the singing is 'Red Guitar' all over again, while the overall atmosphere is like Roxy Music of the early 80s.

This story is only one way of beginning to write about Mothership. My first association was the following: Why have I never started a series on the very first albums I owned and see what I think of them now? Why do I have this thought?, I asked myself immediately after. Because something on Mothership made me think of 'Wish You Were Here'.

Flying Horseman is a band from Belgium. A name that came by but never really stuck. I have another album in my possession I found out but it must have made no impression at all, as I do not have a single recollection having ever listened to it. Mothership seemed to be going into the same direction, but having received an album I always try to give it a second chance. That second chance led to the opening description of this post.

Mothership is "only" 8 songs long, like the average album of old used to be when artists released an album, or more a year. It feels however like an immense double album. The music is somewhat top heavy. My second impression is of Editors. 'Citizens' certainly has Editors connotations. The synth sound, the dark way of singing. Flying Horseman lets in more light and shows not to take itself that seriously by not going over the top. Instead it creates rest further on in the song. As it opens up, it allows more melody and influences to flow into 'Citizen' making the song so much more interesting. Along the way it is danceable too.

Promo photo: Alex Schuurbiers

Singer (and guitarist) Bert Dockx is extremely prominent in the mix. He is up front of it all so dominating the sound of Mothership. He's the colour the album provides. This is mostly a dark colour due to his timbre and way of singing. Around him solid, not necessarily loud, sounds are created but there's always a mysterious element in there as well. These are the 'Nightporter'/'Red Guitar' influences. A guitar sounding as light as a feather to be blown away with the first sweep of wind. The synths that grace a melody, not support it. Underneath a solid bass sounds, no matter how smooth, while percussion can be ever so soft if necessary to support the magic flying around. Percussion can be a muted guitar playing single notes. Angelic backing vocals by Loesje and Martha Mahieu provide the finishing touches to 'Where Do You Live', a song between fairytale and nightmare. Simply because there's no telling how this may end. 'Where Do You Live' shows a band that is not afraid to hold back at all and create a suspense that makes listening to it so interesting.

Mothership is an album with many layers. They may come from the past and the album does sound out of date in that way. Fact is that I never got through an album like this in the 80s and still do not. Not Talking Heads, not Japan/David Sylvian, not Roxy Music. After a few songs it's (more than) enough. I have no such troubles with Mothership. The album intrigues and hits a homerun at all the right moments. Take the explosion in 'Hotel'. It creates musical havoc without losing control for a second. Flying Horseman knows exactly what effect it wants to achieve here and comes back home easily and impressively.

As have no previous recollection of the band, I cannot judge in how far the change of producer has influenced its sound and approach. Whatever the answer is here, I would heed the advice of young Mr. Grace: "Keep up the good work".

Wo.


Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g