Bender & Lies is the latest single from This Flight Tonight, and interestingly the fourth track released from the 2018 EP Nothing to Declare, despite being the opening track of the release.
The track tows the line between raw Rock 'n Roll, and light-hearted Pop-Rock. Vocalist and principal songwriter Ralph Warren Engle a.k.a. Ralphe was a vocal style reminiscent of the Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, more specifically the style in their 2013 hit Do I Wanna Know?
Running at just over three and a half minutes, the track fits in with the mainstream formula for popular music, but still maintains a level of grittiness, keeping all of the string noise during chord changes in the mix.
With multiple guitars but no deep resonating bass lines, the track maintains a light and bubbly feel, compounded by the airy reverbed tone of the vocals. Ralphe makes great use of minimal instrumentation that adds to the power of sections with extra guitars and the gradual builds.
Light and consistently paced, Bender & Lies will make a great song to add to the roadtrip playlist for the coming Summer.
The name "This Flight Tonight" conjures up images of the emotional departures and arrivals at airports. It's those moments of change and new beginnings. It's that spur of the moment decision to take that flight tonight, to escape and set for adventure.
The project begins and ends with one sole songwriter; Ralph Warren Engle. "I write songs as a form of therapy for my own loses and life changes, and I'm set on a musical journey with whoever is available at the time to help arrange and perform the songs." This Flight Tonight project has seen some great contributing talent come and go, just like life's arrivals and departures.
Influences are Radiohead, Coldplay, David Gray, Temper Trap, Pink Floyd and Jeff Buckley.