Field Music – Making A New World
Many people hear the phrase “concept album” and groan. Words such as pretentious, complicated, and disconnected get thrown around often when discussing these thematic musical efforts. Even I tend to try to stay away from concept albums, finding the payoff of undressing the lyrical content little difference from choosing to remain ignorant on the artistic extracurriculars and simply enjoying the musical appeal.
U.K. alternative band Field Music (who have also released music as School of Language in the last decade), have ventured into the world of concept albums with their latest work Making A New World. And as far as concept album goes, this one is definitely a strange topic: the repercussions of post-World War I. Of course, I am paraphrasing slightly, but in a nutshell, Making A New World covers the years and decades following the end of the First World War. And to be clear, it is not an album about the war, and it is not about remembrance, it is about other things, such as gender reconstruction surgery (“A Change of Heir”), Germany’s debts (“Money is A Memory”), or the strange Dada avant-garde art movement of the 1920’s on “Shot in the Arm”.
(who have had also released music as School of Language in the last decade), have ventured into the world of concept albums with their latest work Making A New World. And as far as concept album goes, this one is definitely a strange topic: the repercussions of post-World War I. Of course, I am paraphrasing slightly, but in a nutshell, Making A New World covers the years and decades following the end of the First World War. And to be clear, it is not an album about the war, and it is not about remembrance, it is about other things, such as gender reconstruction surgery (“A Change of Heir”), Germany’s debts (“Money is A Memory”), or the strange Dada avant-garde art movement of the 1920’s on “Shot in the Arm”.
And for an album that is so heavily laden with history, it remains musically captivating, aside from the interesting factual bits filed into the songs.
Opening with the two-part “Sound Ranging” and “Silence”, the album moves in somewhat chronological order. The ringing piano chords on the opening two tracks are based on the sound ranging technology developed in the 1910s to graph the gunfire from the war. Vibrations from gunfire on the front were measured and graphed, and the distances between peaks could be used to pinpoint enemy positions. The album openers are based on a specific image showing the minute leading up to 11am on November 11th 1918, and then the minute immediately after.
Other hints of history, such as the aforementioned pioneering gender change, journalistic photography, and even the Chinese protests of Tiananmen Square, make their way onto the album. And alongside the jumps in time and history, so do the influences and sound of the album. ‘80s synth-pop on “A Common Language Pt 1 & 2”, and post-punk elements meld into the album on “Nikon Pt 1 & 2”.
Most notably, there are bits of vintage ‘70s baroque-pop and David Bowie-esque avant-garde throughout the album. The groovy, and intergalactic “Only In A Man’s World” shares some uncanny resemblances to the world of ‘70s pop-rock, and the slick funk of “Money is A Memory” sounds like something the Talking Heads co-wrote. It makes a song written about paying off decades-old debt intriguing.
With 19 tracks, Making A New World is a fairly extensive work, and to hear every detail would require a few listens. But on the first listen, and without any knowledge of it being a concept album, it has quite a few enjoyable moments, such as the topsy-turvy sounds of “Shot in the Arm” or the toe-tapping rhythm of “Money is A Memory”, and is more of a sonic translation of time than a hit-filled album release.
All in all, the concept aspect of the album is slightly daunting, as per the style; however the artistic detailing and flow of the music is what keeps the album afloat, and shows how strangely unpredictable Field Music can be.
You can stream the album in full on your preferred streaming site, and head to their website for more info and music.
