Chris Ingalls: The thing about minimalism (whether it’s Steve Reich or dance music) is that if it’s executed the right way, the sonic rewards are plentiful. That’s the case with the opening title track of the Field’s upcoming album. As soon as a riff or sound eases its way into your brain, a new element is introduced. That’s how the Field manages to keep things interesting for 12-plus minutes. Good background music, but even better for deep listening. [8/10]
Emmanuel Elone: Maybe I just don’t care much for this type of electronic music. It reminds me of “On the Run” by Pink Floyd, which is a song that I enjoy a lot. However, while “On the Run” was only a few minutes, “The Follower” is a 12-minute extravaganza of repetitious noise that is flavored with a couple of different instruments/vocal samples throughout. It certainly isn’t terrible, and the track is interesting at times. However, just because the song is epic in runtime doesn’t mean that it’s worth listening to necessarily. [5/10]
Pryor Stroud: “The Follower” paces hypnotically down a hallway lined with hundreds upon hundreds of doors, all of which are unlocked but none of which are opened. Each interlocking sound — the computerized bass-synth vortex, the skipping-record vocal sample, the lingering, two-note organ pivot — suggest untrodden melodic pathways and unexplored sonic depths, but the Field practices his signature minimalism and compresses, disciplines, and extenuates each note until the entire composition, in unison, reconciles to monotony. However, the final minutes of the track reveal that these unopened doors of possibility were only a distraction from what lies waiting at the end of the hallway: a scraping noise, metal against metal — or perhaps a human scream — ends the track, and you’re left wondering if the whole performance was a trap all along. [7/10]
Morgan Y. Evans: Hypnotic, repetitive but urgent and sexy with a bit of menace that brilliantly lifts into a confident sense that you danced away most of the dystopian blues by the end. Pretty damn cool. [7/10]
Chad Miller: Moves pretty slowly, and ultimately not enough happens during the 12 minutes you invest in it. There are moments that rise above the rest of the piece, but sometimes it takes minutes to get to them. Plays more like background music than music you actively listen to. [5/10]
The Field‘s new album The Follower releases April 1st on Kompakt.
SCORE: 6.40
TRACK LIST
01 The Follower
02 Pink Sun
03 Monte Veritá
04 Soft Streams
05 Raise The Dead
06 Reflecting Lights