Flying machines: new life (UBU0017)

Flying Machines feature some of the most innovative young musicians to have emerged from London’s exploding jazz scene – Alex Munk on guitar & vocals, Matt Robinson on piano, Synths & Fender Rhodes, Conor Chaplin on electric bass and Dave Hamblett on drums. Having toured throughout the UK following the release of their critically acclaimed debut album in 2016, Flying Machines are now set to release their second album New Life (Ubuntu Music) this autumn and firmly establish themselves as one of the biggest breakthrough acts to have emerged from the UK jazz scene in recent years.

New Life represents a significant milestone in the band’s development. In partnership with Grammy, MOBO and Mercury nominated producer Sonny Johns, the band’s trademark fusion of contemporary jazz with progressive rock has been lifted to soaring new heights. From thundering, all out metal assaults, to ambient meditations and plaintive melodies, New Life sees Flying Machines pushing the envelope in terms of extremities of dynamics and explorations of form. The band also document their foray into the anarchic freedom of group improvisation for the first time, with unrestrained, improvised interludes that dove tail gracefully into more expansive and through-composed material, a risk-embracing approach that now informs the band’s electric live performances. “We didn’t want to sacrifice one approach for the other. We just wanted to throw a bit more chaos into the mix, knowing that the unique sound we’ve developed over all of these years playing together would bring the two approaches into a cohesive narrative,” says Munk.