London based flypaper, the project of singer-songwriter Rory Sear, is back with his second EP another orbit, following last year’s acclaimed debut EP big nada. another orbit find Sear retaining the melodic sensibilities shown in his work as frontman and chief songwriter of Brighton indie combo Beachtape, coupling them with a gentler soundscape, taking inspiration from the likes of Elliott Smith and Randy Newman, while opting to strip things down and record and produce it all himself.

The resulting EP is a revelation, showcasing Sears rising stock as a songwriter while firmly establishing flypaper as one to watch with a debut album due out in 2025.

When launching his solo project, Rory Sear decided to take a stage name from Dayton, Ohio noise rockers Brainiac; ‘Flypaper’ is track seven on their second record, Bonsai Superstar. The similarities between the band and Sear’s new project definitively end there, as anybody who heard last year’s hugely promising debut EP big nada would be able to attest; if his old band Beachtape made breezy indie rock their calling card, then flypaper is mellower still, channeling the spirit of Elliott Smith and Nick Drake to produce an atmospheric, gorgeously mellow acoustic-led sound.

The turning point came when Sear was handed an acoustic guitar during lockdown, changing the way eh thought about songwriting and his influences; soon, he had enough ideas to pursue flypaper as a bedroom recording project, handling all of the vocals and instrumentation himself. He likens the transition from Beachtape to flypaper as akin to Smith’s move from Heatmiser to his solo work. On his second EP, another orbit, he reflects on the year that’s passed since big nada and expands his sound in subtle and elegant ways, something evident in the lusher, fuller sound of ‘cut it up’, ’old friend’ and ‘separate nothing’. On the woozy opener ‘yep (waking up)’ and blissed-out closer ‘something in the water’, meanwhile, he brings in layered vocals and handsome slide guitar to add fresh strings to the flypaper bow.

The key to the project is simplicity, as Sear himself explains, “I was thinking about Elliott Smith, obviously, but I was thinking about guys like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson, too; the songs don’t necessarily sound much like them, but there’s a directness to the way they write that I liked. I wanted to be straightforward in my lyrics, and lean into a certain kind of melancholy in the songs. The process is simple, without too much demoing; it’s just been about putting the song first.”

With another orbit marking the next milestone in flypaper’s gradual evolution, Sear already has an album’s worth of material written, for a record likely to see the light of day in 2025, as well as a five-piece band together for live shows later this year. While he shies away from the bedroom pop label, though, Sear is happy to keep the future of flypaper true to its origins as a home recording project. “I like the way it sounds, and I’m enjoying learning how to do everything myself - it’s been a bit of a journey.”