We’re just shy of the two-year anniversary of elbow’s last LP, Giants of All Sizes, and today we’re getting word on what the Manchester chamber-pop ensemble has been up to since the pandemic hit. Flying Dream 1, the group’s ninth studio album, will arrive on November 19, and ahead of it we’re getting the record’s first single today called “The Seldom Seen Kid.” It’s the same sort of lilting, orchestral number we’ve come to expect from the group, arriving with a video of the single’s full-band recording at Brighton’s Theatre Royal.
“Whilst we were recording, the realities of lockdown meant that I often only got to hear the music the lads had been making in their homes in Manchester late at night when the house was still,” explained vocalist Guy Garvey in a press release. “The first thing I heard was what you hear, the drums leading into a beautiful, daring, woodwind arrangement. I was expecting a piano, not a clarinet, but Craig [Potter]’s creation perfectly encapsulated my mood at that point and the lyrics came out in the order you hear them.”
Watch the performance below.
