lusth
Blogged about this lovely band, HERE
Mellow indie rock is sort of a laughable genre because when everything is stripped away, it’s just elevator music. But ex-Wisconinite duo, Foreign Fields (previously Flights), have made mellow music cool to listen to. Ethereal without being categorized as dream pop, Anywhere But Where I Am is an epic, traveling through lush melodies and softened almost whisper-like vocals, much like Bon Iver’s style. An album of loneliness and introspection, the duo attempt to uncover a deeper meaning to life, relationships and nature. More often than not the music speaks louder than the lyrics, with instrumentals that rival symphonies and film scores alike. Flights take their slow and mesmerizing melodies and brings them to life with understated lyrics in songs like, “Taller” and “From the Lake to the Land”. Foreign Fields is the indie elitist’s Air, a band know for their ethereal yet almost electronic vibe. However, the duo takes on a more folk approach to their songs, allowing the theme of nature to play a more imminent part in their album—and everything is calm. When the music swells up, there is still a controlled aspect to where the melodies are going and how they are going to affect the listener. It’s almost scientific without becoming too thought out. They are a folk-electronic band, again, two genres that should never really mix, but the way this album pans out, an hour of your time to listen is incredibly worth it. Beautiful music to listen to while thinking, reading, dreaming or relaxing, for they are calm without being sleepy, they are powerful without being dominating, and the music they create is important to them and to their listener because in the end, that’s what music is supposed to do, and Foreign Fields proves that with their debut album.
