The exuberant alt-poppers deliver a playlist that’s jam-packed with classics.
Meet Flawes. They’re a British three-piece band and they make the kind of liberating alternative pop music that can drag you out of a dark spell.
Like their new single, ‘Higher Than Before’. It’s a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Mali-Koa and it’s a lesson in optimism at a time when we need it more than ever.
“Higher Than Before is all about giving a relationship a chance and looking at things in a more positive light”, explains the band’s frontman, JC Carruthers. “The chorus hook ‘You’re taking me Higher Than Before’ centres around the realisation that being with them has vastly improved my life; life is a lot better when they are in it. It features the amazing Mali-Koa who we are huge fans of, so it was a dream to finally work together”.
They’re not half bad, are they?
We think that they’re pretty bloomin’ great. So great, in fact, that we couldn’t resist asking them to compile a playlist of their favourite tracks and influences, exclusively for the listening pleasure of you lovely lot.
You can find Flawes’ full playlist at the bottom of the page – but, for now, here’s a few words from the guys about why they chose a handful of the tracks in their lovingly curated collection.
JC: Radiohead – Everything In Its Right Place
The intro alone is enough to warrant a place on this list. For me, this is Radiohead at their best and must be played at full volume. This song is equally as good, if not better when they play it live!
JC: Coldplay – Everything’s Not Lost
Another very special song for me – the final song on their ‘Parachutes’ album. It’s an album that made a huge impact on me as a kid. I would listen to this song on repeat laid in bed with my headphones on full blast after school.
Freddie (Edwards, guitar): Stevie Ray Vaughan – Pride And Joy
This is one of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s most iconic songs and is an all-out lesson in how to play blues the right way! He’s up there in my top three guitarists of all time, mainly for the amount of passion and energy he puts into his playing. He really pathed the way for modern players and was a big inspiration of John Mayer’s, who is also a big influence of mine.
Freddie: Stevie Wonder – All I Do
I grew up listening to a lot of Stevie Wonder and this has always been a favourite track of mine. The chord progressions in the song, and especially the verses, are some of my favourite ever. He’s able to use jazz inversions and progressions in his music while still keeping that Pop sensibility. The guy is a genius!
Josh ‘Huss’ Hussey (Drums): Bob Dylan – Hurricane
I love this song. My dad used to play it in the car wherever we went. Every time we’d listen to it, he would explain to me the meaning behind it and how talented a boxer Rubin Carter was, and how he was wrongfully imprisoned because of the colour of his skin. It’s beautifully written and so emotional. The way Bob tells the story really connected with me as a kid and it gave me an early understanding of racism and some of the problems within society.
Huss: Prince – 7
Another song full of childhood memories for me. My mum was a huge Prince fan, we’d listen to her tape of the ‘Love Symbol’ album every day on our way to school and I’d always skip to this song. I just loved the acapella-stacked vocal intro. It taught me a lot about groove and the sitar line is just perfection. Prince is still a huge influence on me and Flawes’ music in general. He was such a genius, gone too soon. My mum and I were lucky enough to get tickets to his last UK tour and we both had our minds blown by his stage presence and how talented a musician he was.