[Indistinct Chatter] Cabin Lights Off Myles O’Reilly
In the sweaty, surreal dog days of this unprecedented global pandemic, a new trend cropped up that seemed almost laughably useless: International airlines began to offer “flights to nowhere,” for customers who missed the anesthetized atmosphere of an airplane cabin enough to pay for the experience alone. Though these futile flights are an extreme response to the pressures of lockdown, their original motivation resonates: There is undoubtedly a unique, uncanny solitude that comes with commercial flight, a dream-like remove from the pressures of the world below. It’s those aerial moments of peace—staring into a haze of clouds, smoothly cruising across the sky—that inspired Cabin Lights Off, the latest record from musician and filmmaker Myles O’Reilly. The titular track features a vocal sample of a chipper British flight attendant, which grows so faint that it slowly recedes into warbling synths and warm static. The textured room noise that opens “Coffee Please” recalls the numbing calmness of an airplane’s white noise. In the absence of luxury scenic flights, O’Reilly finds success using modular synths to conjure the escapism of the air.
Myles O'Reilly 