It should come as no surprise that the idea and overall concept for the AOR/classic rock supergroup The Night Flight Orchestra transpired while members of the band were traveling, contemplating rock music and its history.

NFO’s aeronautic aesthetic caters to the idea of exploration and freeing oneself, while their commanding musical presence glamours with its irresistible melodies, danceable grooves, galactic hooks, and soaring vocals.

As the jetsetters look toward the release of their all-inclusive seventh studio album, Give Us The Moon, they continue to demonstrate that their captivating and vibrant expression of rock means more to them than meets the eye.

Lead vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid—also of Soilwork fame—was aware that NFO had something really special pretty much from the get-go.

“This is not just a nostalgia act. Like, ‘look at us, we can sound exactly like Foreigner in 1978’—That’s not what we’re trying to do here. It’s much more than that, it goes way deeper. There’s so much presence in what we’re doing, and I think people can sense that sincerity and the presence in the music,” explains Strid.

Revealing how tough it’s been dealing with the passing of NFO/Soilwork guitarist David Andersson, Strid reveals, “We really tried to turn this around because that’s exactly what (David) would’ve wanted and I know that for a fact. I felt like we were on a mission. I really dug deep in order to get out every possible emotion and channel it through the music …The album is quite uplifting, more uplifting than the two Aeromantics, I would say … We wanted it to be more of a positive album.”

He continues, “There’s so much joy I get from listening to this music. For me, it ranges from being quite sentimental and melancholic, to just total euphoria. I think there’s that balance that brings out so many different emotions, it’s very multilayered. Composing and doing the vocals—I just get excited, and I feel very inspired. Especially with this album.”

Through NFO, Strid continuously finds new ways to feed his creative appetite, channeling lifelong inspiration from acts like ABBA, Kiss, Steely Dan, and Fleetwood Mac. An electrifying expression of his voice comes to life that has a noticeably more uplifting tone when compared to the intense and crestfallen nature of his vocals in Soilwork.

“I think what it is with Night Flight, is that there’s really no limits,” says Strid, explaining that the group is an “anything goes” kinda band. “We come up with ideas, like, ‘can we actually do this? Yes, we can.’ That’s always the answer. And that might not always be the case in the metal world, which I can also enjoy. I like that in the metal world, you have to work with what you have and develop that.”

“With this band, you almost get high on the fact that you can do whatever you want—It’s such a liberating feeling.”

The talented ensemble of musicians that make up the band (Sharlee D’Angelo on bass, Jonas Källsbäck on drums, Sebastian Forslund on guitar/percussion, John Lönnmyr on keys, Rasmus Ehrnborn on guitar, and Anna Brygard and Åsa Lundman both on backing vocal) traverses 13 tracks which include introductory boarding calls for both the band and listeners to hop aboard The Night Flight Orchestra and prepare for the journey ahead.

In true NFO fashion, Give Us The Moon takes you on a tour from place to place—with Strid revealing that picking locations to sing about can be random at times, but very personal at others. “In ‘Shooting Velvet,’ there we went from a night in London to a morning in Tashkent in Uzbekistan. I don’t know, it just popped in my head, and I wanted to just create a contrast between two cities.”

“Then there’s also cities being mentioned based on real life experiences, like Toronto. I used to live there for four years, and I felt like I needed to make up with Toronto, so I did that through ‘Runaways.’ Melbourne was also just a fantastic experience with The Night Flight going there for the first time—It was an absolutely electric evening.”

“Some of it is based on real life and some of it is more just romanticizing traveling and sometimes just putting two countries or cities together to create some sort of contrast, which I feel it makes it exotic in some ways … You may feel like you have the world in your hands while listening, and that’s what we want people to feel. The melodies and the whole concept are all there in order to give you that experience.”

With flying and traveling being such an integral part of Strid’s career, as well as some of the other members of the band, he explains how sitting on a plane can inspire him to write lyrics, melodies, and come up with new ideas for the band. Even though, while laughing, he confesses that taking the train is his preferred method of transportation when traveling.

“Even still, there’s something about taking off on a plane that never gets old. It’s a special feeling … but there’s something special about a night flight. Everybody else is sleeping, and you’re still up having a few drinks listening to good music with a friend; there’s something so special about that. That’s how the band name came up.”

He continues, “In fact, I actually wrote two of the new songs—most of the lyrics—on a flight: ‘Paloma’ and ‘Stewardess, Empress, Hot Mess (and the Captain of Pain)’.”

“I usually get quite inspired sitting on a plane. I’ve written a lot of stuff on planes. Even ideas for melodies, sitting there and recording them into my phone. A lot of ideas for stage production with NFO, all kinds of weird, random gimmicks. It happens … After a few drinks on a plane, my mind just starts going.”

Give Us the Moon is out today, and you can purchase it from Napalm Records. Follow The Night Flight Orchestra on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.