Formed at the tail end of 2003 HALFLIGHT were born from tragedy following the death to leukaemia of a key member of a former incarnation, JYLT. 2004 saw the release of their debut EP 'Subside' which garnered positive reviews not least on the pages of W&H.
Now we have the 6-track EP 'Pick Me' to muse over. Folk music is enjoying yet another of its renaissances with a new generation of 'alt', 'indie' and 'leftfield' acts out there regenerating the genre with their own peculiar idioms. HALFLIGHT prefer to take a more straightforward and safer folk-pop route but given the natural and abundant riches of Sarah Howells vocals it seems the most logical option.
There is a pleasing melancholy underlining the lightness and delicateness of HALFLIGHT's predominantly acoustic music. Not that the band are fey lightweights as the meaty second half of the title track testifies. Indeed that track and 'Paper Cuts' stand as fine examples of a much-maligned cross-over genre that has perhaps lost credibility and notions of 'cool' in recent years through the success of acts like The Corrs.
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Indeed while a pared down song like 'Loveworn' presses all the right buttons for haunting and stripped acoustic folk the real strength of HALFLIGHT lies in their willingness to give their well developed song-writing broader and more 'radio-friendly' arrangements; for once the mainstream need not mean bland and characterless.
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