Field Music - Open Here

Rating:

Painstakingly crafted, cerebral pop.

It’s been 13 years since Field Music’s self-titled debut appeared: a neat, geometric set marrying precision-tooled harmonies and sparse post-punk, expertly assembled for the most part by two brothers, Peter and David Brewis. Four albums have followed since, among solo digressions, soundtracks and collaborations, each seeming to bring players into the fold, the result less band now than extended family, or the centre of operations for a north-eastern powerhouse of painstakingly crafted, cerebral pop.

‘Open Here’ is a smaller, shorter album than the grand, Prince-approved ‘Commontime’, in much the same way as ‘Plumb’ (possibly their very best album) followed the sprawling ‘(Measure)’ (also possibly their very best album) in double-concentrated form. But it’s a wide open one, with the ambition and scope to tackle themes large - the unavoidable developments on both sides of the Atlantic since 'Commontime' appeared in February 2016 (‘Checking On A Message’) - and small. The gleeful funk of ‘No King No Princess’ assures David’s son and daughter that they can “play with what you want and ... dress up how you want” - gender stereotypes be damned - while ‘Daylight Saving’ is a wistful wish to reclaim as a couple the hours spent as parents.