THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA - Flying high on the tracks of a Swedish music legend

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA - Höhenflug auf den Spuren einer schwedischen Musiklegende

The Night Flight Orchestra once again offers classic rock board service of the upper class. Always on the lookout for the perfect song, the Swedes on their fifth album "Aeromantic" walk more and more in the musical footsteps of their home country's most famous band - and not only because their recording studio contained the drums of their studio drummer Per Lindvall.

The Night Flight Orchestra not only make no secret of their enthusiasm for the melodic rock of the 1970s and early 80s - often referred to as "adult-oriented" - they were also the driving force behind the band's creation 13 years ago. Since then, frontman Björn Strid (also known from Soilwork), guitarist David Andersson and the rest of the crew have been getting their night airline on track, heading for original venues - Copenhagen airport, Stockholm's ABBA museum -, discovering their penchant for disco, getting the metalheads to perform strange dance moves at relevant festivals (keyword "Conga Train"), creating their own cocktail and airline logo, and further fine-tuning their sound

eclipsed: What has happened to you since "Sometimes The World Ain't Enough" (2018) and how did the work on your new album turn out?

Björn Strid: That may sound a bit boring, but it was the same procedure as always: Usually we try out new ideas in many small sessions and record them. We do it all on our own and can do what we want to do. Recording is almost like a holiday. Our old keyboardist Richard Larsson is no longer with us. He still played on a few recordings on "Aeromantic", but we had some differences and let him go, but wish him all the best for the future. Our new keyboarder John Lönnmyr has already played on the new album and will also go on tour with us. We have two background singers, Anna-Mia Bonde and Anna Brygård, who we have engaged even more than usual this time.

eclipsed: For the extra high notes, for example..

Strid: Among other things, yes. I also wrote pieces especially for her this time. They contribute a lot to our original sound and have been on tour a lot. They are part of the band. Rachel Hall [Big Big Train; note] is a guest musician on the violin. Through her and together with the keyboards and singers we have developed an even more powerful sound.

eclipsed: Would you describe yourself as more 70s or more 80s oriented?

Strid: Something in between. When we started, we were more oriented towards the 70s, but the longer we play together, the more we move towards the 80s. Probably also because there are so many bands playing 70s retro rock these days. But we don't want to be a retro band; we want our music to be timeless. We think that the 80s was characterized by the fact that anything was possible; there were very expansive productions, everything was very dramatic, with a bit too much of everything. We like that.

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