Skydaddy - Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles EP Review

Skydaddy delivers his sophomore EP that takes on the shape of sentimentality, and the voice of raw vulnerability. 

Rachid Fakhre, the Lebanese-Grenadian Chamber-Folk vanguard drops his second Skydaddy EP Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles on January 10. This short but moving 16 minute project packs a rich, and melodious listen, laced with Fakhre’s allegiance to all things personal, raw, and meaningful. 

Skydaddy’s second EP explores a child-like optimism in spite of all things bleak and gruesome. There’s a certain admittance to experimentalism here, both sonically and conceptually, tracing the growth in Skydaddy’s personal musical recipe. Fakhre’s freshman EP, Pilot, takes a delicate, gentle form while Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles seems to be bolder, and beautifully confrontational with the thought of Fakhre’s purpose. Even if it hurts, Skydaddy delivers these meaningful messages wrapped in sounds that distract you from its unsettling focal point. 

The EP’s title is a tribute to the words buried deep within Fakhre’s favourite film,“It’s a Wonderful Life”, acting as Skydaddy’s inspiration for his cup-half-full mentality. Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles seeks to adorn Fakhre’s raw thoughts in a translucent silk veil; Not masking them entirely, but seeing them through a different lens. 

This only being Skydaddy’s second solo EP after branching outwards from his duo, Spang Sisters, it’s enlightening to hear him grapple with his own sonic style. With a twinge of malaise, “Allicin” embarks on an ambient flute, and sparkling cymbal intro. An ode to the antibacterial oil found in garlic, Fakhre lyrically explores a spiritual enlightenment or cleansing of sorts, delicately wrapped in a fluttering flute and feathery guitar strum.  

“Albert Bridge” has its fair share of flute as well, and stands as the EP’s playfully self-aware track as Fakhre explores the meaning of his existence whilst perched on London’s Albert Bridge. “No one knows my name, and I’m glad I came”, Fakhre’s brand phrase here, embraces the existential-curious themes within the EP. 

Skydaddy’s dynamism is illuminated in “Mushrooms”, with its sadist lyricism wrapped in a lighthearted pop beat. Although a track painted to portray a devastating 2020 chemical explosion in Fakhre’s homeland of Lebanon, Skydaddy doesn’t fret from embracing the vulgar, and turning it upside its head.

“Age (Reprise)”, the instrumental outro to the EP, feels like the perfect exit. It’s short, simple, yet comfortable within its nostalgic movement. Gently layered vocals, soft-strummed guitar, and momentous synthy sounds, create a placid soundscape, leaving the heavy body of the EP behind with a gentle hug goodbye. Although each track radiates its own individual experience, this reprise felt like an all encompassing glue to seal the envelope shut. He sends his listeners off feeling good, and that’s a delightful touch to put on an EP that covers so much honesty.  

Transforming hardship into personal transcendence seems to be a recurring theme within this project. Fakhre works diligently to place not only himself, but his listeners in position of being at the world’s mercy. From the Albert Bridge vantage point, to the plane window seat overlooking the Aegean sea, Skydaddy ushers his listeners into a realm of ponderous thought; Who are we, and how do we make light of it? 

We have all but small experiences, yet we in ourselves are miniscule in the grand scheme of things. Skydaddy elicits this theme via the interaction of his lyrics and sonic modes. He pairs the sorrowful with the playful, the heavy with the lightweight, and it works wonderfully. Anchor Chains, Plane Motors & Train Whistles is an exploratory, thoughtful, and tastefully harsh sophomore EP for Skydaddy, and a promising appetizer for his expected future work.