ALBUM REVIEW: Yume – Floya

FLOYA are a real breath of fresh air this springtime. German duo Marv Wilder and Phil Bayer came straight out the gate with beautiful singles like The Hymn with an amazing year last year they’ve finally given the eager fans a full-length, Yume. Many of these songs you’ll have heard if you’ve kept up with their single releases, but the collection overall is a great listen from start to finish.

You’ll find an airiness to songs like Stay and Willows at the top of the record that make you feel right at home. There isn’t really any other way to say that there are some proper bops going on here; that shiny guitar work, heartfelt vocals and poppy drums just tick all the boxes. If you like glossy, feel-good music, Yume is the right choice of record to brighten your day.

FLOYA’s glossy synths really create that sense of nostalgia that harks back to Peter Gabriel and THE POLICE combined with contemporary joys of bands like WATERPARKS. They’ve done a fantastic job at making this whole record feel coherent, even with multiple songs being released individually years apart. However, there are some slightly weaker moments. Wonders is a little lacking in something, there’s not quite enough of a hook or significant drive to feel completely engaged by it. Likewise, Drift is somewhat throwaway. Granted it is still well produced, as with all songs on this record and it is delicately pleasant, but there’s just no memorable part that warrants returning to.

Big hitters The Hymn and Weaver are a great reassertion of how FLOYA can work towards really dynamic and almost progressive sounds. The Hymn absolutely grabs you from the off, with its wailing guitars that lusciously dissolve into shimmers. The beat is solid, you really want to get your groove on. On the other side of the spectrum, the smooth rise of Weaver brings in a cool and collected swagger before ripping open the guitars. The delightful follow up of Epiphany also leans in to delicious wailing guitars and tranquil, bittersweet melodies. Stunning stuff.

Vocally these are definitely the strongest songs to boot; they’re dynamic, lyrically evocative and truly fill you with a genuine elation to sing along to. Lights manages to feel dramatic and tempered at the same time, again really working well with dynamics between slower moments and reconstructing the momentum into something blissful. There’s obviously give and take when combining EDM and modern rock sounds, which can be difficult to get the balance right on. However, this final half of the record really shows off the best of FLOYA’s sound and the potential to really go places with what they’ve created.

Final track and album namesake is a lovely little slow down that feels like a warm summers night, where the sun is still out at 9pm, you’re having the best time with friends and life is good. A perfect ending.

Yume is the bright and positive record we need to draw us into warmer seasons. Feel good grooves, big sing along vibes and a great mix of nostalgic and contemporary guitars and synths makes FLOYA’s debut full length absolutely shine.

Rating: 8/10

Yume is out now via Arising Empire.

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