Languidly blending moods and textures, Everything Last Winter feels like a fantastic comedown record disguised as a witch-rock wig-out. Drowsy guitar drones and blistering outros anchor Fields’ sound, but it would be unwise to dismiss this Birmingham five-piece as mere My Bloody Valentine copyists. For all its strum und drang in fact, Last Winter strikes a surprisingly sweet and emphatic note.
Setting Fields apart from the mainstream of noize bands is the boy/girl interplay between guitarist Nick Pelle and keyboard player Thorunn Antonia. Floating on gentle fuzzbox swathes, their wispy back and forths deliver an unexpected retro punch – in the same heartbeat one is put in mind both of Sonic Youth and Fleetwood Mac.
Not that Fields are one trick avant-rockers. Manic synth dabs wash over opener ‘Songs For The Fields’ while the FX-swaddled onslaught of 'Feathers' is mitigated by Antonia’s lost school-girl warble. They aren’t afraid of overreaching, either: ‘If You Fail We All Fail’ builds from bass riff into a howling blizzard of sheet metal guitars and electro squalls.
Jack the volume up and let Fields suck the air from your lungs.