ALBUM REVIEW: Treetop Flyers – ‘Palomino’

treetop flyers

treetop flyers

As an indie rock band out of London, England, the Treetop Flyers are quickly gaining popularity. Though they’ve openly struggled a great deal with grief and loss over the last few years – obstacles that have clearly found their way into their music – they’ve remained dedicated to their vision and continued producing their own brand of funky Americana.

This five-member band has been put through the fire and come out shining, as we see in this new album, Palomino. From the opening track, ‘You, Darling You’ to the final soiree, ‘Wild Winds’, Palomino embraces a bevy of vocals and styles. All the struggles they’ve fought their way through have clearly had a bearing on the work they are producing. We can hear that combined sense of regret and hope laced throughout the album.

‘You, Darling You’ is about the loss of a marriage, and the myriad of emotions such an experience entails. Despite the subject matter, this is not an angry sort of song. Rather, it’s an introspective look back at the dissolution of a relationship with a fairly melancholy feel.

‘Sleepless Nights’ is a more hopeful tune, with a sound that kicks back to a sound reminiscent of the early 70s. The magnificent piano found in ‘Lady Luck’ is easy enough to get entirely lost listening to, while ‘It’s a Shame’ has a bluesy sort of vibe that makes a listener want to snap their fingers along to the music.

Heartbreaking and raw, ‘St Andrew’s Cross’ is a look into the moment when singer Reid Morrison lost his father. This painful, real song calls to the grief in all of us who have felt it before, and resonates deep within the heart of the audience. With lyrics such as this:

“I look at my mother

Crying outside

I look at my brother

Missing his dad”

The simplistic nature of the song is what makes it so easily relatable. Guitar accompaniment along with Morrison’s soulful vocals leaves nothing but pure, painful truth to look at head on, and one cannot help but empathize with the singer.

Though ’31 Years’ is another peek behind the loss the band has endured in recent years, it’s also a catchy song that, again, easily resonates with the listener. While much of the album does admittedly focus on sadness, that doesn’t detract at all from its enjoyability factor. Sadness, even grief, are human emotions and experiences we’ll all go through, and a band that doesn’t shy away from the agony and pain, or even the eventual hopefulness of those experiences is a band destined to go far in their profession.

In all, Palomino is an album filled with the voices of those who have seen hardship and survived, coming through the pain even stronger and more confident. These are honest, raw voices the audience will immediately connect with, and their timeless sound makes them a hit with various age groups. Palomino is a powerful album, real and full of true human emotion. Nicely done, Treetop Flyers.

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