Phil Dickey, Will Knauer, and Jonathan James had a lot of time to reflect during their 10-hour flight home from Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Collectively known as Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, the three musicians had just spent a whirlwind six days in their namesake’s home country: meeting with Yelstin’s close friends and personal translator (who gifted them 7 bottles of expensive Russian vodka) and performing at an elementary school after the U.S. consulate named them cultural ambassadors for a day.

The trip, which came about when the Boris Yeltsin Foundation extended an invitation to the band after tracking them online for years, concluded with a set at Old Nu Rock (making SSLYBY the first American group to play at Russia’s largest winter rock festival).

And yet, for all its empowering moments, the once-in-a-lifetime adventure also marked a turning point for SSLYBY.

“I used to joke that we would break up if Boris Yeltsin ever found out about our band,” says Dickey. “So I figured this was either the death or rebirth of the band.”

Happily, it turned out to be the latter.

With no one pressuring them to start work on a new album, SSLYBY decided to anyway for the best reason of all – because they simply wanted to.

“The whole experience of going to Russia renewed my belief that songs and words have power,” explains Dickey. “I wanted to make a record before that feeling went away.”

With this desire in mind, there was no better location for Fly By Wire to come together than in the place that started it all: the attic of Knauer’s parent’s house where SSLYBY recorded their breakout debut album, Broom.

(320kbps MP3)