Field Music - History

History

Field Music released their eponymous debut album in August 2005. A collection of B-sides and earlier songs, Write Your Own History, was released in May 2006. Their second album, Tones Of Town, was released on January 22, 2007.

In an interview with BBC 6 Music in April 2007 the band claimed they were intending to split once the promotional engagements for Tones Of Town were completed in June 2007.

"We basically want to do things that aren't classed as 'Field Music indie band'. We're not going to be a band for a bit. But Field Music aren't going to be over because we've already got a bank account under the name, so we'll just continue as a company. It's time to go and do some real work."

Field Music later confirmed that the band has not split. On their official website the band members addressed the issue and reassured fans as they are still a band they simply wished it to be known that the band is a by-product of their existence, not their reason for it.

David Brewis released an album as School Of Language in February 2008 through Memphis Industries (in the UK and Ireland) and Thrill Jockey Records (in the US and Europe), while Peter Brewis recorded an album under the name The Week That Was which was released on 18 August 2008, also with Memphis Industries, and featured both David Brewis and Andrew Moore on some tracks.

In an interview with Stereogum in July 2009, the band confirmed that they had reunited (minus Andrew Moore) and were busy recording a third Field Music record. The 20 tune album, titled 'Field Music (Measure)' was released through Memphis Industries in February, 2010 (Feb. 15 in the UK, Feb. 16 in the US).

Field Music have been celebrated as one of the few bands to transcend and outlast the short-lived NME-generated "post-punk revival" of the mid-noughties. Describing the band as "a truly artful proposition in the pseud-filled landscape of contemporary Brit art-rock", music blog The Fantastic Hope puts this down in part to their "un-self-conscious anti-fashion stance", arguing that Field Music's "wayward pop from the fringes of academia is one of the most worthwhile ways in which rock//indie/guitar music/white pop/whatever might evolve".

The band was chosen personally by Belle & Sebastian to perform at their second Bowlie Weekender festival presented by All Tomorrow's Parties in the UK in December 2010.

Their fourth album, Plumb, was released on February 13, 2012. It was preceded by the song "(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing", available as a free download from their website. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize that year.

In an interview with Songfacts.com, legendary guitarist and producer Al Kooper said that Field Music is his favorite new band.