Rating: NNN
Peter and David Brewis barely catch their breath before they’ve got another album out the door. When their popular Field Music project went on hiatus after 2007’s excellent English pop album Tones Of Town, David used the time to start School of Language, while Peter created the Week That Was, whose self-titled debut made many 2008 top 10 lists (including mine).
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Field Music’s returned in a big way, with a 20-track double album. It’s full of the proggy rhythmic U-turns, complex structures and virtuoso playing for which the band’s known. But while these elements often create impressive moments, few tunes stick with you. Highlights happen (mostly in the disc’s latter half) when the band sounds less like itself. Curves Of The Needle is a dark piano ballad with Queenish choruses, The Rest Is Noise is dramatic pop fun, and violins invigorate the cinematic, instrumental closing tune, It’s About Time.
Top track: The Rest Is Noise
Field Music play the Horseshoe on March 19.