Field Music – ‘Tones Of Town’. Released January 24th 2007
Field Music, despite just releasing their second album, have always been left out of the limelight, especially when compared to their fellow Sunderland’ers – The Futureheads. Their new outing, ‘Tones Of Town’, is set to imbed the fledgling band into the mainstream, where they deserve to be.
This record starts where it’s former, ‘Write Your Own History’ left off. Packed full of optimistic layered instruments, laid-back harmonies and a constant barrage of good fun, the album leaves the listener feeling much more happier than before they first pressed ‘play’. With clear influence from The Beatles and bands of former generations (Talking Heads, The Hollies), Field Music are destined to prickle many different ears.
‘Tones Of Town’ kicks off with the ambitious opener ‘Give it, lose it, take it’, which contains a snappy opener and interesting string and piano pieces. It’s very similar throughout, but is just enough to ease the Field Music first-timer into their musical mind-set. Stringed instruments are quickly forgotten about and left in the background, however, with the dirty blues guitar riffs on ‘Sit Tight’, which is a much more familiar and very interesting song. The title track carries on with ‘Sit Tight’s vibes in many cases, yet has a fantastic toe-tapping beat and feel to it, and kicks into life near the end just when you think it’s finished.
Next up is ‘A House Is Not A Home’, which has lead singer Andy Moore wondering ‘What’s the point in going home again?’ and is a clear dig at their hometown. Again, strings and piano dominate this quite basic sounding, yet highly produced and layered song. ‘Starlight Into Kingston’ and ‘Working To Work’ bemoan modern-day city life and the repetitive strain of working in a job, with very little time for fun, yet they still manage to sound upbeat and enjoyable.
Just over halfway through the record begins ‘In Context’, a delightful song containing 60’s-esque twanging, flowing guitar that links greatly with the funky bassline and thumping drums. The song flows over the soul, and offers a concoction of rock and pop harmonies. Track 8, ‘A Gap Has Appeared’ and its next-door neighbour ‘Closer At Hand’ are the most contrasting songs on the album, the first being a very soulful, melodic piece, which sees Andy Moore recite ‘what was it I was thinking?…only time will tell’. The song seems to narrate the confusion and not necessary sadness when a relationship finishes. “Closer At Hand” is much more upbeat and cheerful, and describes feelings of relief and freedom after a situation or moment has changed for the better.
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The final two ensembles within ‘Tones Of Town’ leave the listener feeling fulfilled and wanting to repeat the album all over again. ‘Place Yourself’ is a placid, majestic song which is the perfect opener for the finale of ‘She Can Do What She Wants’ - a very bouncy, quick tune that finishes with a sudden brash note and says goodbye with strange synthesiser noises, as if to say “don’t forget about us”, which would be a very hard thing to do.
The album is barely over 30 minutes long, yet packs so much into its small timeframe you’ll think it’s been playing for around a century. Field Music preaches about depressing topics such as relationships slowly unravelling, resenting the place you’ve grown up in, and hating your job. Yet, the album still gives so many positive feelings due to the very nature of the sound this band creates that if you need a pick-me-up, this record is the perfect remedy.
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