Field, The ‎– Yesterday And Today

YESTERDAY AND TODAY is a bit of a come-down for The Field after the stunning FROM HERE WE GO SUBLIME. So while "I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet" and "Leave It" follow the same pattern (loops and variations), Axel Willner tries his hand at some other textures as well, like the steel pans that end the former. But he's not always successful: the vocals on his cover of The Korgi's "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" aren't bad, per se, but they are a little out of place. (Besides, NRG still has a lock on the song with their rave anthem "I Need Your Lovin'.") John Stanier from Battles comes in to co-produce the title track, and here you hear the fault lines start to crack. The track begins like a version of "The Deal" but without the oomph, and around the 2/3rds point it simply peters out, while still continuing. "The More I Do" starts off great as well, but ends, curiously, on the steel pan again. The final track, "Sequenced," just seems to go on and on, aimlessly. It's an unfortunately end to an uneven album, one with its high points as well as its low points, definitely.

This release let me down. Clearly his technique has not changed, and that's okay because I loved the first album, but something is missing this time around. The loops are more harsh, the sound is abrupt, jarring. The previous album gave us micro-loops and hyper-repetition without being grating or tiresome, the loops were subdued and the tone was relaxed and atmospheric. This album lost the atmospherics. The inclusion of "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime" seemed an uncreative choice, it's been remixed/sampled many times before already.

Those not won over by The Field up until this point should probably give him a second chance. "Yesterday And Today" carries some of the sublime that the debut was missing. It is clear that he has honed in on the best aspects of his debut and strengthened these with richer production. Ignore the first two tracks and just jump straight to "Leave It"; a retake on "The Deal" that surpasses it in every way, as if it had been blended with the smooth house of Luomo. The title track is the best track of the album, starting off similarly to "Everday" and "Silent", but (properly) finishing off with a brilliant drum and bass segment. Fans of the first album will no doubt love "The More That I Do", which starts off good, but then annoyingly locks loops for the remaining five minutes, much like most of the tracks on the debut.

"Yesterday And Today" represents a promising step for The Field, one which he can hopefully follow through on in the future.