Reviewed: Flamingo Pier – ‘Woven Together’
There is a particular kind of dance music that works just as well in the afternoon sunshine as it does at two in the morning. Flamingo Pier have spent the best part of a decade exploring that space, and ‘Woven Together’ finds the New Zealand trio bringing their different musical instincts into a more complete album statement.
Luke Walker, Dom Jones and Brad Craig have never been easily confined to one corner of the dancefloor. Their music carries the rhythmic curiosity of disco, the weight of electronic production and the looseness of a live band. On their second album, those qualities are joined by a stronger sense of place, drawing on their New Zealand roots and the London club culture that helped shape them.
The four advance singles suggest a record interested in contrast rather than maintaining one energy level throughout. ‘Cool Nights’ introduces an Italo-influenced, late-night shimmer, while ‘No Excuses’ takes a more direct route through driving piano and an insistence on living in the present. ‘Glowdown’ slows the pulse, allowing its golden-hour atmosphere room to develop.
‘Be The Same’ adds another dimension, drawing on the rhythmic influence of Outkast and Timbaland. It is a useful reminder that Flamingo Pier’s musical reference points have always extended beyond house and disco.
That breadth is central to the appeal of ‘Woven Together’. The trio’s background in live performance gives their electronic music a different perspective: grooves need space to breathe, melodies need somewhere to go, and not every moment has to compete for the biggest reaction in the room.
Written, produced and released independently, the album also represents a change in how Flamingo Pier operate. After releases on Soundway and Razor-N-Tape, they have taken ownership of the entire project, giving themselves room to bring their influences together without forcing them into a narrower club format.
The title feels particularly apt. ‘Woven Together’ is less about reinventing Flamingo Pier than bringing the different strands of their identity into focus: New Zealand warmth, London club instincts, global rhythms and the musical interplay that has always distinguished their work.
