Me & My Kites "Like a Dream Back Then" Review

Reviewed by Chris Sherman

The debut album by Me And My Kites, a new collective of Swedish musicians (notably, AnnaMy, Lisa Isaksson (Lisa O Piu), Mattias Gustavsson (Dungen/ Life on Earth)) led by David Svedmyr, has just been released via AAO.  While the download is readily available, the LP has been eluding me for the last few weeks, so good luck on your hunt for the time being! 
The band is named after Fuchsia’s 1971 underrated classic song of the same name, and that’s a great point of reference on this LP, and it would also sit along nicely with Kevin Ayers “Joy of a Toy”.  The songs are mostly acoustic based, with flutes and piano contributing lovely melodies, and mellotrons adding a darker atmosphere to the mostly breezy elements.  Overall, there is a very loose and dreamy feel here, and this is seemingly something that could be the soundtrack to your summer, perfect for those lazy days outside in the open. 
Opener “Back When I Came” begins in a grand sweeping fashion, before it dissolves into an early Floyd swirling organ freak-out with sounds floating in and out of the aural spectrum.  This segues right into the single “Was It Like A Dream”, sung by (I believe) the amazing Isaksson.  For me, the LP highlight might be “Caravello Parallelo”, with a winding groove of a bass, saxophone melodies and a beautiful Gilmour-esque lead guitar.
Again, this is well crafted psych folk and everything melts together, forming a lovely soundscape that you keep wanting to return to.  I really hope that this is not a one-off release, as I would love to hear more by these guys.

Editors note : there was a bit of competition to review this album as both Chris and myself totally flipped when we first heard it - couldn't agree more with everything Chris has to say here, and I also fully recommend that you check these guys out. A very special album.
Check out their facebook page here for music and links.