Sunderland band Field Music are returning with their fifth record Music for Drifters, and it’s fair to say that this release is quite the departure from their previous work.
The album, containing the band’s first completely instrumental recordings, serves as the score to the 1929 work Drifters. After first being invited to perform their work at a one-off screening of the film at the 2013 Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival the band were sufficiently enamoured with the experience to spend the autumn of 2014 honing their compositions. That work will see the light in time for Record Store Day, where Field Music will release the album on silver coloured vinyl.
For those that missed the one-off performance at the Berwick festival Field Music will also be taking their work on tour, accompanying the film live at cinemas across the country. The tour will see the band’s original lineup reunited, with brothers Peter and David Brewis being joined once more by keyboardist Andrew Moore.
"It’s incredibly exciting to be given the opportunity to tour Drifters, as writing and performing the original commission for Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival in 2013 was a true pleasure, culminating in a wonderful evening,” said David. “We are delighted that we can do it all again at some lovely cinemas and art spaces around the country.”
Drifters, by documentary pioneer John Grierson, explores the work of a herring fishing fleet setting sail from the Shetland Islands to battle the North Sea elements. Its release came alongside that of Battleship Potemkin, one of the most famous and well-respected films to ever come out of the Soviet Union. Grierson’s work, though, would also influence the burgeoning documentary scene, and its impact continues right through to Field Music’s new work.
The Quietus has an exclusive premiere of the track ‘Casting Out Pts 2 And 3’, a rhythmic, guitar-led track that you can listen to above.
Field Day’s tour opens in Newcastle next month, with subsequent shows in Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow and Swansea throughout the summer. You can find tickets and more information here
