Fyfe Dangerfield - Fly Yellow Moon Album Review - REDEFINE magazine - music art film journalism

Fyfe Dangerfield, of the UK rock band Guillemots, proves to be very versatile in his debut solo venture, Fly Yellow Moon. The entire album has an eclectic ebb and flow and appears to mirror the relationship that Dangerfield must have gained his inspiration from. He has very different sides to him — delicate and acoustic, upbeat and electric, lovestruck, and slightly bitter. Dangerfield is equally effective and believable in tackling each.

The more upbeat songs on the album, like “When You Walk In The Room” and “She Needs Me,” illustrate Dangerfield as resolved and totally in love, wanting to share his feelings with the world. These songs in particular are so saturated with this feeling that they can easily be part of their own musical; visuals come to mind of someone dancing down the street, singing after a love scene.

“When You Walk In The Room” is upbeat and completely drenched with Dangerfield’s enthusiasm for being in love. It’s the first track and is incredibly contagious; you feel his joy and want to sing along. Dangerfield starts the song with a strangled scream, which is a little out of place and a little shocking, but it settles in perfectly. The lyrics in the song are not groundbreaking, but lines like the repeated, “I want you endlessly,” are so involuntarily cheesy that they suit that point in a relationship perfectly.

Dangerfield comes across as extraordinarily sincere in his quiet fragile songs, unveiled by stripped down music. And something else changes; these songs take a step back from his resolve, as if to show second thoughts.

On the sweet-sounding, breezy “High On The Tide,” Dangerfield’s lyrics are slightly bitter, making the listener taste the salty air of the family-friend beach that he starkly places us on. This contrast makes the song effective in conveying the loneliness that lingers after the end of a relationship — the point where everyone gets pushed away because “who needs friends when all they have is opinions.” This song is perfectly contrasting and good at conveying this moment in his love story.

“Livewire” is another delicate acoustic song on the album with a somber tone. As the song builds, it seems that Dangerfield is begging for a decent chance at love, and his partner is not cooperating. The sports metaphors in his lyrics are simple and express his feelings well, making them easily accessible to the listener: “We’ve got everything to play for/ 1-1/ Halftime…/ Don’t kick it all the time.”

If someone heard one of these songs on the radio and bought the entire album blindly, he or she might be in for a big surprise. Not every song is noteworthy, and the varied moods could seem out of place, but after a couple listens, they begin to make sense.