Field Music

Made up of three core members (Andrew Moore and the brothers Peter and David Brewis) from Sunderland, Field Music write beautifully crafted indie pop gems. And I say crafted, because each song is littered with production flourishes and sounds that put the music one step ahead of any traditional indie fare you might think of.

People often bring up The Futureheads and Maximo Park with regards to the sound, not just because of the area they are from, but mostly because Barry Hyde from the Futureheads has been a former member and the drummer from Maximo Park (Tom English) often plays with them. Field Music are more contemplative and the vocals more subdued than those two bands and they play down the accents, but they keep the tight rhythms and group harmonies that the related bands have been recognised for. Each song has the uncanny ability to take sharp turns in structure without disrupting the flow or unsettling the listener.

A new album, Tones Of Town is released early next year, and the first single In Context, out in October, is a corker. The taut drum sounds return with the falsetto harmonies but this time with spicier guitar hooks following each line before exploding into a great chorus lifted by stabbing strings.

From Tones of Town (2007):
Field Music – In Context MP3 Expired

The first self-titled album is by no means redundant, with plenty of quirks and tunes throughout its brief runtime. It’s amazing how crammed with hooks and melodies songs like Shorter Shorter and You Can Decide are despite barely breaking two minutes. They’ve also released a rather competent B-sides collection earlier this year (how in-vogue is that nowadays), Write Your Own History, which includes the brilliant Alternating Current, which I’ve included here alongside the free mp3’s they have available on their site.

From *Field Music* (2005):
Field Music - You're So Pretty
Field Music - Shorter Shorter
Field Music - You Can Decide
[buy from Amazon]

From *Write Your Own History* (2006):
Field Music - Alternating Current _MP3 Expired_
Field Music - I'm Tired
[buy from Amazon]

A few more songs can be heard on their MySpace page .

Man, I really am spoiling you…

: 20 Aug 2006 00:22 |  Tags: Alternative Field Music Indie Pop |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem