Field Music
Flat White Moon

THE REVIEW

"With this record we wanted you to feel good about things that make us feel awful".

(David Brewis, singer and guitarist of the band).

Field Music returns with their sophisticated musical architectures disguised as "simple pop-rock songs".

Yes, because this is precisely their strength: managing to make what is not simple appear simple, and to convey a sense of lightness and accessibility to the listener (without ever slipping into banality), while displaying a mastery and compositional skill that cannot escape an attentive ear. Exactly the feeling given by two of the bands we can consider their putative fathers: namely the Beatles (Paul's side) and XTC, the latter never celebrated enough.

The band, now active for more than fifteen years and fresh from the excellent "Making A New World" of last year, with this "Flat White Moon" doesn't really add much to their already extensive discography. Theirs is an absolutely consolidated formula, yet once again they give us inspired pieces and bursts of class.

Among the best moments is the opening track "Orion From The Street", (first single) with its excellent harmonies and sophisticated arrangement characterized by elegant sound solutions, as well as the track that most deviates from the more or less homogeneous sound of the entire work.

Also interesting is "When You Last Heard From Linda", surely more sparse but with perfectly fitting strings taking center stage, while "Meant To Be" gives us the most unconventional moment with its "crooked" progression and that guitar that goes a bit off on a tangent.

Notable also is "No Pressure", by far the most compelling track of the lot (the video is ingenious, presented as a tutorial where the band reveals the tricks to create the perfect pop-rock song) and the elegant "Invisible Days", with a vague "McCartney-esque" flavor.
In conclusion, a pleasant confirmation. Yet another in a respectable career, dotted with a handful of records that can rightly be defined as finely crafted.