Track Listing

1. Underwater Love
2. Devil Mood
3. With You
4. Numbers
5. Mr Gorgeous (And Miss Curvaceous)
6. Aguas De Marco (Joga Bossa)
7. Dark Walk
8. Jamie Pan
9. Giulietta
10. Flying Away

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11766 in Music
• Released on: 1999-03-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Though best known for the use of the single "Underwater Love" in a Levi's commercial, Smoke City's debut album, Flying Away, has a surprising amount to offer. Fronted by the multi-culti Nina Miranda--who answers the question of what a Brazilian-born Björk would sound like--the band combines an inherent bias towards tropicalia with the more electronic sounds of groups like Thievery Corporation and Portishead; the result varies between a dance jam like "Darkwalk" and the slinky "Mr. Gorgeous (and Miss Curvaceos)", between the darkly playful "Aguas De Marco" and the lush "With You". Gently inviting, but with significant substance, Flying Away is a long-term delight. --Randy Silver

Customer Reviews

Devil of a mood
British band Smoke City debuted with "Flying Away," a lush trip-hop album with some hints of sultry South American music woven in there. Imagine Portishead doing bossa nova and samba, and you'll have some idea of what "Flying Away" is made up of.

Starting off with the fluidly sensuous "Underwater Love," the album jolts into the smoky, thumping "Devil Mood," sexy ballads (the slow "With You," the gentle "Giulietta), shimmery Latin music ("Numbers," the pleasant "Aguas De Marco"), and opulent trip-hop ("Dark Walk") before wrapping up with the sweet title track.

"Flying Away" is one of those albums that you just can't pin a label on. To call it one thing -- Latin music, trip-hop, jazz -- would be to leave out everything else this album is. Instead it's a seamless blend of all three, mixed in with some odd sound effects and beautiful vocals.

Smoke City's instrumentation is a weird combination of the electronica and organic: we've got beeps, blips and bloops mixed in with an acoustic guitar. And thrown in are heartbeats, crickets, muffled muttering, maracas and some heavy ringing percussion. The lyrics seem simple, but come across as far more than they are ("With you I felt love/With you I felt pain/With you I was me/And a bit of you too").

Vocalist Nina Miranda's sweet vocals are what makes this album so memorable. She croons in Portuguese, French and English, managing a sultry croon one moment and wistful ethereality the next. Not to mention some ad libs of her own, like the high-pitched yelps of "Devil Mood," her mumbled mutterings, or the quizzical "The body? Yes, the body!" comment.

The sensual sounds of Smoke City are at their best in "Flying Away," full of fire and water and wind. This textured collection of brilliant trip-hop is a must-have for music fans.

A '90s jewel.
A first saw the video of Underwater Love on MTV in 1998 and although I thought the video was arthouse crap, the track grew on me and I later found out on the interent that Levis used the song to advertise jeans...typical.

This album is not just trip-hop but listening to the music you can undertsnad that Smoke City are (or Were) a group that were clearly influenced by Portishead in their approach to using slick sampling techniques although there are a couple of tracks such as Guiliette that seems to use a live accoustic guitar but if they had ever done a live album it would be interesting to hear how the songs could be reproduced live.

Nina Miranda's vocal's compliment this album perfectly, her lyrics are rampantly sexy, playfully funny and her ability to alternate between French and English languages allows her intellect to shine through.

I haven't bought Heroes of Nature and judging by one review I don't think it would be money well spent but I think it's only fitting that this album remains as a '90s classic on par with Portishead's Dummy.

Trust me, buy it, it's worth every penny!

Cool as f......
From track one "Underwater Love" - which MUST be listened to on earphones or a fantastic stereo to get the full 3d deep down full textured sound of it - you get the feeling that these guys know exactly what music is and what moods they can convey, with Nina's vocals making you melt to the brazillian influenced beats (proving that Mr.Hermano isn't the only kid in town) which will make you feel good about everything and mixed together you get an album which won't be off the decks.

Perfectly produced and with tracks like "Mr.Gorgeous[& Miss Curvaceous]" in there telling stories then you will be in for one top musical ride.

Highly recommeded....