Field of Reeds

Field of Reeds is the third studio album by British art rock band These New Puritans, released on 10 June 2013 on Infectious Music. Produced by Jack Barnett and Graham Sutton, the album features prominent contributions from over thirty-eight session musicians, including jazz singer Elisa Rodrigues,[5] and finds the band "reinventing themselves as a neoclassical ensemble."[4] The album is the band's first without keyboardist Sophie Sleigh-Johnson, who departed from the band in 2012.

For the afterlife in Ancient Egyptian mythology, see Aaru.

Field of Reeds
Studio album by
These New Puritans
Released10 June 2013 (2013-06-10)
Recorded2012
Studio
  • Studio P4 Funkhaus Nalepastraße (Berlin)
  • Snap Studios (London, England)
  • Modern World Studios (Tetbury, England)
Genre
Length53:00
LabelInfectious
Producer
These New Puritans chronology
Hidden
(2010)		 Field of Reeds
(2013)		 Inside the Rose
(2019)

Released to widespread critical acclaim, Field of Reeds reached number ninety on the UK Albums Chart.

Background and recording

During the recording of Field of Reeds the band worked extensively with classical musicians and singers, including two large ensembles: the Stargaze Ensemble and the Synergy Vocal Ensemble. Regarding the recording process, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jack Barnett noted, "We pissed off a lot of people making this album, and drove a lot of people mad. We worked long hours of the day, every day. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Maybe some of the musicians thought, 'It's some popular music project, we can all relax, put our feet up.' But it was a big challenge."[6]

Release

On 13 June 2013 the band released a music video for the album's second track, "Fragment Two", directed by Daniel Askill.[7] Videos were also made for "Organ Eternal" and "V (Island Song)".

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.9/10[8]
Metacritic82/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The Guardian[11]
The Independent[12]
The Irish Times[13]
Mojo[14]
NME6/10[15]
Pitchfork8.4/10[4]
Q[16]
Record Collector[17]
Uncut8/10[18]

Field of Reeds received highly positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 82 based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[9]

In 2016, Fact placed Field of Reeds at number 26 on its list of the best post-rock albums of all time, with staff writer Chal Ravens describing the album as "one of only a few records that could claim to be a successor of Talk Talk's majestic strand of post-rock".[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jack Barnett, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."This Guy's in Love with You"
3:02
2."Fragment Two" 4:34
3."The Light in Your Name"
6:03
4."V (Island Song)" 9:16
5."Spiral" 6:03
6."Organ Eternal" 5:31
7."Nothing Else" 7:49
8."Dream" 4:14
9."Field of Reeds" 6:28
Total length:53:00

Personnel

These New Puritans
  • Jack Barnett – vocals, piano, electric piano, organs, bass guitar, vibraphone, chromatic gongs, unpitched percussion, magnetic resonator piano, sound design, field recordings
  • George Barnett – drums, percussion, glass
  • Thomas Hein – bass guitar, roto-toms

Additional musicians
Singers
  • Elisa Rodrigues – vocals
  • Adrian Peacock – basso profondo
  • Elizabeth Turner – field recording vocal
Soloists
  • Nicholas Ellis – clarinet and bass clarinet soloist
  • Henry Lowther – flugelhorn and trumpet soloist
  • Lindsay Kempley – French horn soloist
  • Daniel West – tenor trombone and bass trombone soloist
  • Pete Smith – tuba soloist
  • Elspeth Hanson – viola soloist
  • Chris Laurence – double bass soloist
  • Toby Kearney – vibraphone soloist
  • Faith Leadbetter – piano and electric piano soloist
Stargaze Ensemble
  • Andre de Ridder – conductor
  • Nikolaus Neuser – flugelhorn, trumpet
  • Matthias Gödeker – French horn I
  • Stefan Most – French horn II
  • Florian Juncker – tenor trombone
  • Till Krause – bass trombone
  • Sebastian Kunzke – tuba
  • Paul Valikoski – violin I
  • Daniella Strasfogel – violin II
  • Justin Caullet – viola
  • Zoe Cartier – violoncello
  • Kristjan Orii Sigerleifsson – double bass
Synergy Vocal Ensemble
  • Micaela Haslam – director, soprano
  • Julia Wilson-James – soprano
  • Heather Cairncross – alto
  • Rachel Weston – alto
  • Phillip Brown – tenor
  • Andrew Busher – tenor
Children of St Mary's Church of England Primary School
  • Charlie Dyer
  • Daisy Farthing
  • Maddie Farthing
  • Amber Motti
  • James Norris
  • Jacob Scotford
  • Bethany Scriven
Others
  • Ben McLusky – additional pipe organ
  • Andrew McPherson – magnetic resonator piano setup and calibration
  • Shiloh – hawk
  • Alan Vaughan – hawk handler
  • Roy at TGM Glazing – glazier
  • Stool Trinovante – saxocone

Recording personnel
  • Graham Paul Sutton – producer
  • Jack Barnett – producer
  • Phill Brown – recording engineer (ensemble recordings)
  • Ben McLusky – assistant engineer
  • Christian Bader – assistant engineer
  • Campbell Duncan – assistant engineer
  • Geoff Swan – assistant engineer
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
  • Stuart Hawkes – mastering

Artwork
  • George Barnett – artwork, other photography
  • Matthew Cooper – artwork
  • Paul Steet – artwork assistant
  • Jack Barnett – drawings
  • Willy Vanderperre – band photography

Charts
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 76
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 168
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 90
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[22] 17

References
  1. Paine, Andre (20 May 2013). "These New Puritans, Heaven – music review". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  2. Dowling, Jordan (20 May 2013). "These New Puritans – Field Of Reeds Album Review". Contactmusic. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  3. Bowe, Miles; Horner, Al; Lobenfeld, Claire; Ravens, Chal; Twells, John; Welsh, April Clare; Wilson, Scott (20 April 2016). "The 30 best post-rock albums of all time". Fact. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  4. Snapes, Laura (14 June 2013). "These New Puritans: Field of Reeds". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  5. Southall, Nick (30 May 2013). "These New Puritans' Field Of Reeds, Track-By-Track Preview". The Quietus. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  6. Snapes, Laura (8 May 2013). "These New Puritans". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  7. Murray, Robin (14 June 2016). "These New Puritans – Fragment Two". Clash. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  8. "Field Of Reeds by These New Puritans reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  9. "Reviews for Field of Reeds by These New Puritans". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  10. Lymangrover, Jason. "Field of Reeds – These New Puritans". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  11. Costa, Maddy (6 June 2013). "These New Puritans: Field of Reeds – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  12. Gill, Andy (7 June 2013). "Album review: These New Puritans, Field Of Reeds (Infectious)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  13. Murphy, Lauren (7 June 2013). "These New Puritans: Field of Reeds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  14. "These New Puritans: Field of Reeds". Mojo (237): 92. August 2013.
  15. Hewitt, Ben (7 June 2013). "These New Puritans: Field of Reeds". NME. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  16. "These New Puritans: Field of Reeds". Q (324): 111. July 2013.
  17. Draper, Jason (July 2013). "These New Puritans – Field of Reeds". Record Collector (416). Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  18. "These New Puritans: Field of Reeds". Uncut (194): 65. July 2013.
  19. "Ultratop.be – These New Puritans – Field of Reeds" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  20. "Ultratop.be – These New Puritans – Field of Reeds" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  22. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
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