Sway

About

Sway introduced Lufthaus on 11 February 2022, arriving without fanfare as the project’s debut single from Visions Volume 1. The trio, Robbie Williams with collaborators Tim Metcalfe and Flynn Francis, had developed the material during lockdown, trading ideas over Zoom and testing songs on Williams’s Instagram Lives before signing to Armada Music. A Club Mix accompanied the release, followed by Dents and Pika remixes in March, establishing the act’s underground leaning before identities were fully revealed later that year.

Written and produced by Williams, Metcalfe and Francis with Melbourne producer Doshpot also involved across the album era, Sway set the project’s template. Lufthaus favoured patient builds, analogue tinged arpeggios and close mic’d vocals, more Berlin night drive than pop crossover. The lyric video and visualisers reinforced the anonymous aesthetic that allowed the music to circulate among DJs without the distraction of Williams’s name.

Lyrically, Sway is inward facing. Short, mantra like lines move from vulnerability to release, matching a slow blooming arrangement that shifts from shadowy pads to a pulsing mid tempo groove. The vocal sits as texture as much as lead, a deliberate contrast with Williams’s solo work, while the hook word “sway” lands as a physical instruction and a metaphor for surrender.

“This isn’t just a collection of songs. It’s our heart, our soul and our vision for what electronic music can be.”Robbie Williams

Premiered in club sets and later in arena support slots, Sway proved a coherent statement of intent. It signposted the project’s contemplative mood and its club literate production, and it connected the trio’s 1990s dance influences with present day melodic techno. As the first chapter of Visions Volume 1, it framed Lufthaus as a band project rather than a feature for a pop star, opening a new lane in Williams’s catalogue.