Flying Man is the stage name of Dunedin based Irish-born live-looping guitarist and singer/songwriter Alan Ned Gray. Flying Man’s song-writings sit in the electroacoustic realm – playing programmed beats, live looping and layered harmonies. Here he has been joined by Lara Rose from the wonderful Dunedin folk duo {Tall Folk}. When this started I must admit I was not a fan, as the electro/ambient arrangement is just not what I am interested in, and although Lara has a nice voice I was not overly impressed until we got to the chorus where there was much more acoustic guitar and she had room to lift her vocals. The second verse and chorus has Alan on lead, and he has a nice voice and this certainly did feel much later. He also took the bridge, but here the vocals were too much in the background and the electronics felt too far forward.
The third verse saw them duetting, and by now I was convinced the major issue with this song is one of personal taste. It is a nice song, with good vocals, but due to my own likes and dislikes I would have much preferred it if this had been accompanied by an acoustic guitar and little else. Not for me, but also not something which should just be dismissed out of hand and fans of this style should certainly investigate.
Rating: 6/10
