Air Traffic – Fractured Life
With colourful precision a line is dissected between the falsetto pitching euphoria and feel-good spice of The Magic Numbers and The Flaming Lips and a haunted, yet melodic Haven/ Travis climb, also finding time to filter in snippets of the retro rug rugged slant of the Kings of Leon. This is a range that has had the likes of Zane Lowe and Steve Lamacq tickling the airwaves with predictions regarding the success and impact of this full length, as well as the future potential of this Bournemouth quartet. The above elements are carefully squashed into the sprightly sub three minute, provocative sojourn of ‘Charlotte’.
A yearning melody touch is drawn out with Coldplay-esque precision via ‘Shooting Star’, opening out a bleeding heart that keeps on pouring as this eleven track parade unfolds. Having eked out a reputation for producing driven and passionate live shows whilst on the road with the latest NME luvvies, The Pigeon Detectives recently, Air Traffic manages, for the most part, to replicate this impact on this touching debut album. A rhythmic toe that helped the likes of The Bravery rekindle that late 80’s rock/new wave vibe provides a catchy keyboard tug to help the dancers out there. Also, a hypnotic, rhythmic slant renders it an almost certain future single to help keep the attention of Radio listeners in particular, in check, later on in the campaign to harvest this album to its full potential.
‘I Can’t Understand’, builds from a slow guitar jangle to fully exclaim the heart-on-sleeve tendencies that are well pronounced by a roving piano and the echoing, searching cries of Chris Wall. All in all, Air-Traffic cruises through the path that sets out life’s toils, with bounding pride. Showcasing honest and slightly perturbed lyrics to give a universal edge to the material that will increase in poignancy, making this an album that stays on your play list longer than other offerings of this cut.