Flying Away

Quite an underrated trip hop album, even if I don't quite love it... yet. Fusing bossa nova and acoustic instrumentation with the moody beats of trip hop is quite a novel idea - and it's surprising that it hasn't been done more.

I like a lot of the production and the album is pretty consistent overall. But there are some weird hooks/choruses that slightly hinder some of this great production. I found the hook on 'Mr Gorgeous' to be quite obnoxious, which sucks, because I think the beat is pretty cool.

My standouts are 'Underwater Love' (obviously), 'With You', and 'Águas de Março'. These three showcase the best of the bossa nova and trip hop fusion, with beautiful melodies and some good vocals.

My least favorite easily has to be 'Devil Mood' because of how jarring that song is on an album like this. I would've liked it on a more abrasive album, because it does not fit here at all.

Otherwise, this is a promising album that is often left out of the essential trip hop conversation. And while I still need to spend more time with this album, I like it quite a bit already.