I have never actually thought it possible to “hear” feng shui but after listening to Field Mouse’s debut album You Are Here, I now know what feng shui sounds like and it’s something everyone needs to hear.
Vocalist Rachel Browne has a voice that seems to whisper softly into your ears no matter how loud she is singing. It resembles a feather at times, touching the inside of your ear to make you helplessly smile in response to anything she is saying. If there is ever a person that you want to hear bad news from it is definitely Rachel Browne and her equally talented band.
The band, from New York City, lifts you up and floats you across their ocean which by no means is smooth sailing. Rough waters are displayed on tracks like “Tracing the Map” and “Anomie” where Ms. Browne gets to show her Clash/Talking Heads influence. The latter song builds like a volcano, from a warning to a full on explosion followed by the aftermath of calm.
On “Dirt vs. Grass”, Field Mouse hold your feet hostage and make you powerless to control the tapping of your toes no matter how hard you try. The song is a radio friendly pop rock trip that seems tailor made for driving straight toward the horizon in an attempt to catch up with the setting sun. The entire album displays songwriting and musicianship that easily best the amateur hour pop vocals of commercial radio today.
With You Are Here, Field Mouse takes you on a wandering dreamlike journey though a nighttime sky full of soft flowing vocals with music to match. At times it all comes together into a high speed guitar driven dive straight toward the ground but pulls up just before crashing and returns you to your feng shui inspired ease with the final song, an acoustic gem named “Tide Came In”.
Key Tracks: Tide Came In, Dirt vs. Grass, Bird
Doug Morrissey- MusicReviews.com Contributor
May 16, 2010
