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Apr 07, 2014 Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia By Cody Ray Shafer

The latest solo effort from Field Music’s David Brewis captures the melodic sophistication we’ve come to expect from his group efforts, but more focused and restrained. Old Fears is a glitchy, synth-infused album of blissful white-boy funk in a neat 35-minute package. It boasts falsetto whispers over warm grooves spaced out with cracking snare drums and jangly guitar licks. It feels like a work in progress, like home demos taken out and polished to pristine definition, which only makes it more earnest.

Old Fears opens with “Distance Between,” setting the mood against a soulful rhythm that rises and falls, building its haunting melody into the next song, “A Smile Cracks,” which takes its opening drumfill cue directly from U2’s “Seconds,” a second-track prototype itself. “Suits Us Better” is a mix of rich harmonies, with a subtle doo-wop beat-box rhythm juxtaposed against ethereal guitar notes dripping throughout. The album’s first single, “Between the Suburbs,” perfectly illustrates the album’s stumbling energy, a steady stream of jumpy beats and intricately woven overdubs. The album closes with a brief detour into Berlin-era Bowie territory, but the trip doesn’t last long enough, and Old Fears ends abruptly with a dark, quiet outro.

After the pristinely organized chaos of Field Music’s Plumb, it’s hard to hear Old Fears as anything but an alternative approach. It sounds like a moment from a song taken out of context from Plumb and left to evolve on its own into something bigger. In some sense, Old Fears exhausts its good ideas about halfway through, but isn’t a bad experience overall. There are moments of careful construction, amid stacks of piano riffs and vibey guitar licks. It’s good enough, but still manages to evoke a longing for just a little bit more. (www.field-music.co.uk)

Author rating: 6.5/10