Has everyone got their seatbelts on and fastened? Perfect, because we’re about to liftoff. The Night Flight Orchestra, my favorite AOR band of the past decade (and yours too), are back, and I’m about to make it everybody’s problem. Yeah, you heard me right. If you’re looking for growled vocals, blasting drums, and thrashing riffs, too bad. You’re just gonna have to wait. Now knowing how quickly I put out reviews, you won’t have to wait TOO long, so bear with me as I gush over my Swedish darlings and their latest opus, Give Us the Moon.
The leadup to the NFO’s seventh studio album was not without its tribulations, the most prominent being the untimely passing of co-founding guitarist/principal songwriter, David Andersson. While this tragic news left some wondering about the band’s future, they quickly powered forward, playing the euro fest circuit and working on new music with new guitarist, Rasmus Ehrnborn (who also plays alongside frontman Björn “Speed” Strid in Soilwork). After all, simply throwing in the towel would go against the NFO’s very ethos. Up until Andersson’s passing, they were averaging roughly an album every other year (or in the case of the Aeromantic duology, back to back years). With a new lineup and new collection of songs in tow, the band are back to their high-flying ways, treating us with an album that stands as the absolute embodiment of the word “nostalgia”.
Give Us the Moon sees the NFO continuing to do what they do best, and that’s crank out top shelf AOR caught somewhere between the ’70s and ’80s, one foot planted in the Swedish tundra, the other in the breezy freeways of the west coast. Punchy, pomp-infused rockers like “Stratus”, “Shooting Velvet”, “Miraculous”, and the title track get under your skin in a way that very few throwback jams can in 2025, save for those being unleashed by High Spirits. There’s just something about that combination of layered guitars, choir vocals, dreamy synths, and old school production, coupled with meticulously written pop tunes, that hits the core of my soul every single time.
Par the course, there are some outliers, but none that deviate from the NFO’s musical identity. Dance-oriented bangers like “Like the Beating of a Heart” and “A Paris Point of View” stand as the album’s token disco outbursts, of which it wouldn’t be an NFO album without. “Melbourne, May I?” sees the band pushing the aggression dial up just a notch or two, channeling the street-ready grit of early Survivor, while the technical maneuvers of “Cosmic Tide” showcase the band’s proggy side. Closing it all out is the lengthy “Stewardess, Empress, Hot Mess (And the Captain of Pain)”. I’ve always been a little iffy with these NFO suites, so to speak, but this one hits the spot, conveying the drama of the song without coming off as overbearing.
When it comes to AOR, you’re hard pressed to find a band as passionate about the sound, aesthetic, and era than the NFO. That isn’t to put down their melodically inclined peers, but the authenticity of their music continues to astonish, even if it’s more of the same old, same old. This is a case where the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies. My only wish is this latest voyage sees the band touchdown in America once and for all, like they were supposed to a few years ago. C’mon gang! Us Yanks need a heavy dose of glitzy Swedish melodic rock n’ roll!
9 out of 10
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: AOR
For fans of: Toto, Survivor, Russ Ballard
Leave a Reply