LOCKDOWN left Elbow feeling “bewildered, nostalgic and far from the people they loved”. They turned the experience into their ninth album, the stunning Flying Dream 1. “Our songs lend themselves to life drama because they’re written about life drama,” says singer Guy Garvey. “And the pandemic has included plenty of drama.
It’s a gentle and love-filled record. The gentler side of what we do has always been our favourite stuff. This is something that could only happen in these times.
If we’d been out touring instead of in lockdown at home, I’m sure it would have been an angry, heavy rock record like the one before it.” Garvey is in good spirits full of warmth and charm at his studio in Brixton, South London.