Single Review: Final Whistle

Whanganui based band The Flow Collective launch their latest single Final Whistle today, Friday 26th May.

The group released their debut album Flow last year, a collection of compositions by lead vocalist and pianist Elizabeth de Vegt, with lyrics taken from the poems of Airini Beautrais’ collection Flow: Whanganui River Poems. Final Whistle was recorded for the album but didn’t quite make the cut. Regardless, it is a stand out track that is dramatic, exciting, and haunting all in one.

The track begins with a twinkling piano melody that is almost like something you’d hear from a wind up music box. Nostalgic, yet with a sense of eeriness. Elizabeth’s vocals come in and immediately I find myself listening intently. Her voice is commanding and clear, with the emotion in her words prominent throughout the track.

The song gains momentum when drums come into the picture, and as more instrumentation comes in things start to get exciting. The feature of taonga puoro (traditional Maori musical instruments) adds a haunting element as well as a sense of familiarity in the unmistakeable Kiwi sound, while electric guitar adds a dramatic effect, adding to the spectacle of the song. This mix of old and new instrumentation (taonga puoro and electric instruments) make for an interesting combination, but somehow it works.

It’s clear that Final Whistle may not have quite fit with the overall sound of the groups album, with those tracks having more of a singer-songwriter style to them. This track, however, is like something written for a film score, bursting with emotion. It may be five and a half minutes long but the track doesn’t drag, and had me hooked from start to finish. Strong musicianship and songwriting is on display here, and I imagine hearing the song live would be an incredible experience, hopefully one I get to witness someday.