Five well-known, always busy Chicago singer-songwriters — Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor, Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough, Alex Hall — get together to form a pop supergroup called the Flat Five that uses vocal melodies and harmonies as the main means of delivering 12 memorable earworms that will stay lodged in your brain for days. Chris Ligon wrote this batch of songs that offer a much needed dose of positivity and light heartedness as the bitter U.S. election nears its long-awaited end. The album title of the Flat Five’s debut release, It’s a World of Love and Hope, conveys this optimistic outlook. It releases this Friday via Bloodshot Records.
Kelly Hogan tells PopMatters that “the Flat Five began building their record in September of 2014, as quickly as their busy schedules and the 100% band-financed recording budget would allow. In between their respective tours, they convened at Chicago’s Reliable Recorders (JD McPherson, Pokey Lafarge) — with band member Alex Hall pulling triple-duty as studio owner, engineer, and drummer — and crafted this record themselves down to the last detail with endless hours of hard work and a shared passion for the music. It’s a World of Love and Hope is truly a labor of love featuring 12 songs written by Chicago fixture Chris Ligon (bandmember Scott Ligon’s big brother.) From the laid-back simple to the oddly romantic to the slightly subversive, there’s a heart of wide-eyed sweetness coloring all of Chris Ligon’s songs, which jibes perfectly with the Flat Five’s sound and their unapologetic mission to spread musical positivity. A throwback idea? Maybe. But the Flat Five’s music is fresh and timeless. It is a world of love and hope. They insist!”