Biography

HiFlyer Biography

Without making too big a sweeping statement, Bristol, as a general rule, hasn’t had too much to get excited about. True enough Portishead, Kosheen and the entire trip hop movement came out of the city but aside from that and an impressive suspension bridge, it’s been quiet for a little while. Enter HiFlyer, the Southwest’s very own answer to Fleetwood Mac. Imagine a sweeter than sweet Coldplay if Chris Martin got the boot and Aimee Mann took on the lead vocal.

The vocal in fact is a high point of the HiFlyer experience and an interesting topic considering that, as a child, lead singer Elle had an illness that almost took away her ability to talk, let alone sing. Her vocal chords were damaged during a procedure to clear her airways after she contracted pneumonia. In spite of doctors concluding that Elle would be lucky to walk or talk, due to lack of oxygen to the brain, here she is today fronting the most promising of UK bands. Interestingly, an illness that should have stripped Elle of her voice has instead given her a stunning and instantly recognizable asset.

The forthcoming single, “Chasing Rainbows” (from the “Chasing Rainbows EP”, released on digital download on September 24th) showcases a band capable of creating pure pop songs of the sweet and poetic ilk, as well as a remix of the single by Sammy D. It’s not only Bristol’s fine inhabitants that seem to agree with HiFlyer’s musical output. They are playing an intimate showcase at the Camden Barfly on Sunday 16th September at 3pm and will be touring after that date.

The future looks bright and post single release the band will present a debut album “Passport to Strangers”. A selection of the songs on the album flaunt the production talents of Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers) and he fully exploits their twinkling, intimate, quintessentially English pop balladry. Couple that with a team including Mick Garbutt, Lucid PR, Jo Hart of Hart Media and Pete Bassett from creative PR geniuses “Quite Great Publicity” and they could well be onto something.