We Have Lift Off

ON ALBUM NUMBER SEVEN, SWEDISH ROCKERS THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA FACED SOME MAJOR TURBULENCE — BUT THE WIND IS BACK BENEATH THEIR WINGS

- Amit Sharma

DESPITE THEIR CONNECTION to the Swedish melodic death metal scene, with members who also play in bands like Arch Enemy and Soilwork, the Night Flight Orchestra are wholeheartedly devoted to making music that's feel-good and uplifting. This year's seventh full-length, Give Us the Moon, continues to blur the lines between AOR, funk and disco — cooking up an infectious brew of cinematic hooks, key changes and triple harmonies. For guitarist Sebastian Forslund, who stepped into a lead-songwriter role after founding guitarist David Andersson passed away in 2022, the last few years have been a period of unanticipated transition. The group now find themselves beginning a new chapter with some of the finest songs of their career and a new guitarist in Rasmus Ehrnborn.

“David was our lead songwriter and most creatively driven member,” Forslund says. “He started the band back in 2007; it was his vision at the beginning. I was asked to mix the debut and felt it needed percussion to make the songs sound even bigger. When the band started performing live, they wanted to keep that.”

It was this chain of events that led to an invitation to join the band as a full-time member, originally as a percussionist, before eventually adding guitar duties to the mix.

“I slowly moved toward doing guitar work,” he says. “I joined just before the first record. I was free at the time so I became part of the live band. I already knew the songs, so it was fun to jump on stage. Later, they needed a second guitar player, and I felt I could do that as well.”

On stage you play guitar and percussion at the same time. How exactly do you manage to do both?