I’ve been debating whether it really is worth throwing up some thoughts on this album. Despite guestspots by Inspectah Deck, Rugged Monk and Scarub and Eligh of Living Legends, We All Want To Fly isn’t all hip-hop. Made up of a guitarist and a turntablist, Chavez and OpenOptics respectively, Inspired Flight’s début takes influences from nearly every genre you could name to create a stunningly unique sound.

You’re probably wondering why anybody would hesitate in reviewing something so good. Well this is a hip-hop site and while a lot of We All Want To Fly sounds very inspired by hip-hop, only five of the twelve tracks actually feature MCs. Nevertheless those tracks are absolutely a joy to listen to because of the juxtaposition between mellow singer Chavez and the guest.

“The price of progress with that cost? I’ll dish out them chips / and chip at it like a sculptor carve out a wish / I’m on a chemical romance and life is a trip / A slow dance with destiny, and her hands I grip”

Of those five tracks, most of them, if not all, follow the same kind of structure. I’ll admit that I’m making this sound a little more formulaic than it actually is but this is the general trend. A slow atmospheric build up with soft vocals from Chavez. OpenOptics will occasionally throw left-field samples and quick scratches in there, especially in the album’s title track. After three or more minutes of this, the chill-out-esque sounds will culminate in a big crescendo where the MC will jump in for minute. The entrancing beats have a humbling effect on the MCs which tends to result in great, albeit slightly clichéd, lyrics.

The problem is there isn’t nearly enough of this with the rest of the album flipping between great indie infused trip-hop and slightly tedious chill-out. That’s not to say that all the MC-less tracks are terrible, far from it. In fact, “Jackies Song” and “It Always Takes” are among some of the better tracks on the album. However, the slow atmospheric sound that Inspired Flight relies does bring down the album as a whole during a sluggish middle. Some of the tracks outstay their welcome and some just lack something for your ears to grab onto.

It’s this section that is stopping me from completely loving this album and recommending it to everyone. You get the feeling though, that We All Want To Fly is just the first step. They’ve experimented with a lot here and not all of it works. While it might become tiresome during parts, when it’s great, it lets you know and is deserving of your attention. If you’re wanting to listen to something new, creative and unique, I couldn’t think of a better example.

We All Want To Fly can be bought on the iTunes music store and should be listened to in its entirety on the Inspired Flight website. It was released on the 5th of July 2010.