High Flying, Adored

Make way for The Art of Flying

From a home studio hidden within an aging barn outside Taos, David Costanza and Anne Speroni craft immense and ethereally lo-fi soundscapes as The Art of Flying.

With Costanza and Speroni at the core of the process and an ever-rotating cast of world-class musicians providing backup, a deftly prolific knack for poetic songwriting meets gorgeous musicianship.

A patchwork mélange emerges, culled from the highest high-points of rock 'n' roll history with a Brit-pop slant and neo-psychedelic edge. Over the course of six records and one 10-inch LP, The Art of Flying has delved into and expanded upon the legendary foundations handed down from the likes of Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd or even Bob Dylan, while driving their style forward via hints of shoegaze heroes like Belle and Sebastian or lyrical masterminds like Billy Bragg. This is music that isn't afraid to take its time and slowly build toward more beautiful harmonies or subtly wistful melodies.

The pair has traveled the world over building experience along with musical prowess and, since their inception in 1998, steadily improved upon their painstaking formula with each newly recorded iteration. Their hard work and apparent encyclopedic awareness of the bits and pieces that make folky rock and psychedelia mesh well has culminated in the best of the bunch, the charmingly under-produced I'm Already Crying.

Don't let that descriptor "under-produced" fool you, however, because this album is exactly where it needs to be and the lack of soulless bells or whistles lends itself perfectly to the heartfelt nature of the 10 brilliant tracks. You can experience them for yourself this Monday at the Jean Cocteau Cinema. Words like "essential" have been used by critics in the past, and you'd be hard-fought to think up a better word for how much you need to hear this band.

The Art of Flying
7-9 pm Monday, Feb. 2. $12-$20
Jean Cocteau Cinema
418 Montezuma Ave.,
466-5528

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