The Underground of Happiness

Another triumph from the Brewis Brothers, this time taking the thrilling prog-pop template from (Measure) and moving it in a semi-cinematic direction, like some kind of chirpy/disaffected Northern England mini-musical (in fact lads, how about getting this album on tour as a stage play with actors, a set and the band providing accompanying continuity?). So, momentary orchestral flourishes advance the plot, segues and interludes change the mood in film-cue style, field recordings of church bells and water gurgling locate the action. What’s the plot? My best guess is that it centres around the banality of everyday life, domestic strife and attempts to transcend same. The stand-out “conventional” tunes, A new town and (I keep thinking about) A new thing act as the theme tunes of the piece, conveying the core message with great brio ( Is this the picture? comes a close third in its XTC spikiness, just ahead of the swooning, string-laden From hide and seek to heartache ). Grim up North? ...

We love a bit of Field Music around here. So imagine how happy we were to hear the news about the new Field Music album, due out in February 2012. It'll be called Plumb , and will be released on Memphis Industries . Here's the stream and download. Field Music - (I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing by memphisindustries It sounds very much like a continuation of where (Measure) left off, which is to say, great. And it seems timely to upload the interview with the Brewis brothers, Peter and David, from September 2010, when they played in Cork shortly after that year's Electric Picnic Festival . It features... ...Stratocasters vs Gibson SG's, a village in County Durham called Noplace, Sunderland's shipbuilding past, The Beatles' Happiness is a warm gun , the predictability of pop song structures, Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds , teenage pub gigs, singing like Joe Cocker, and more... Field Music Interview by underground of happiness My other n...