Album Review: The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic II (Nuclear Blast)

The Night Flight Orchestra is back! The band that formed as an idea of friends from several well-known rock/metal bands (Soilwork, Arch Enemy, Mean Streak) back almost a decade ago and has been dropping jaws ever since. With 5 albums already under their belt, 2 nominations for the Swedish Grammies, countless live shows and praises from fans and media alike, TNFO have steadily upped their game when it comes to paying tribute to a decade that influences all sorts of people and even industries to this day – the 80s.

Enter 2020, TNFO had just released their recent record, ‘Aeromantic’, and kicked off their European tour in support of it, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Björn Strid, the AOR dictator helming this exceptional collective called NFO, recalls:

We made it one week into the tour after some absolutely amazing shows and then it all went south and we had to go home. Just about everyone on the tour got sick when they came home, with varied conditions.
The band didn’t step back and accept the situation but decided to do what they do best instead:

It was pretty clear after some months into the Covid madness, that it was here to stay and that we weren’t gonna be able to tour for quite some time. So we made the best out of it. The remedy was simply to hit the studio again as soon as everybody was well again. It ended up being an incredibly creative 1.5 years and so many amazing songs came out of it.

Aeromantic II will be released on September 3rd, 2021 via Nuclear Blast.

Way more fun than it has any right to be, it’s fascinating to see something so fun and upbeat come out of such a dark period. Though that is The Night Flight Orchestra – perpetually positive.

Chances are, you already know exactly how you feel about this band and this slab of super-80’s infused rock, pop and synth isn’t going to change that. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, The Night Flight Orchestra are unashamed in what they do and why should they? This album is a blast from beginning to end. Music that puts a big smile on faces with its energetic, synth-heavy 80’s vibes.

So many danceable numbers (Violent Indigo, Chardonnay Nights and You Belong to the Night), so many kick-ass choruses (How Long, Amber Through a Window, Zodiac), a few tracks you can get sexy too (Midnight Marvellous, Burn for Me) and even the odd melodramatic number (I Will Try, Moonlit Skies).

The Night Flight Orchestra are having fun and that is infectious as all hell. There isn’t a track here that doesn’t have at least one catchy hook or memorable bit of synth. Make no mistake, Aeromantic II is exactly what it claims to be. A glowing tribute to a fanciful period of music. It has a massive amount of crossover appeal as the young and old, the rock and pop lovers, and everyone in between will get a kick out of this.

It helps ten-fold that The Night Flight Orchestra are so very good at what they do. The party is where they’re at. Don’t be a square!

The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic II Full Track Listing:

1. Violent Indigo
2. Midnight Marvellous
3. How Long
4. Burn For Me
5. Chardonnay Nights
6. Change
7. Amber Through a Window
8. I Will Try
9. You Belong to The Night
10. Zodiac
11. White Jeans
12. Moonlit Skies
13. Reach Out (Bonus Track)

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