If Bliss n Eso’s first two albums—2004’s Flowers in the Pavement and 2006’s Day of the Dog—introduced them as lively, if inconsistent, hip-hop party-starters, then Flying Colours, their third, established them as a more serious group. Encouraged by their growing profile, they relocated from Sydney to Melbourne, where they recorded the album during an intensive three-month period. They found inspiration in unusual places—witness the cover of Citizen Cope’s “Bullet and a Target”, complete with 20-piece African vocal group The Connections Zulu Choir, or the thoughtful “Eye of the Storm”, which samples Angus & Julia Stone's “Paper Aeroplane”. The trio are at their most playful on the funk-meets-Latin melodies of “Happy in My Hoody” and the skit-riddled “Royal Flush”, while some songs showcase a new-found depth, such as “The Sea Is Rising”, a string-laden call to arms that laments the pollution of the earth and politicians' misguided priorities. The album's ensuing tour saw Bliss n Eso break box office records for the genre in Australia, and become the first local hip-hop act to tour America.