For Keeps (album)
For Keeps is the third and final album by The Field Mice. It was also their very first (and only) full-length release on Sarah Records - their previous two, Skywriting and Snowball, being mini-albums. "For Keeps" adheres to the Field Mice blueprint of ambient electronica combined with wistful acoustic/jangle pop with Bobby Wratten's lovelorn lyrical obsessions, best represented on the alternately reflective and soaring highlight that is "Star of David".
For Keeps | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1991 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 51:23 | |||
Label | Sarah Records | |||
The Field Mice chronology | ||||
| ||||
2005 Reissue cover | ||||
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Pitchfork Media | (7.9/10) link |
Stylus Magazine | (B) link |
Despite the middle section of side two being taken up with three successive slow-paced and pastoral-sounding ballads, the album still demonstrates a certain eclecticism that one comes to expect from The Field Mice. Opener "Five Moments", for instance, is a beautifully atmospheric showcase of co-vocalist Anne-Marie Davies' characteristically ethereal vocals. The album's most uptempo [and euphoric] track, "Coach Station Reunion", cheekily steals the guitar riff from The Beatles' "Doctor Robert" via an electric Byrds-ian Rickenbacker guitar, whilst "This Is Not Here" gives the origin of its title away with its blatant Lennon-esque stylings fronted by some psychedelic guitars and phased vocal effects. Two instrumentals bookend the second half: the first, "Tilting at Windmills", shows a more ambient side to the band, whilst the album's rockiest moment; the seven-minute "Freezing Point" which features frazzled Loop-like repetition and caustic guitars at its final coda, brings things to a noisy conclusion.
Track listing
- "Five Moments" – 5:16
- "Star of David" – 5:22
- "Coach Station Reunion" – 3:10
- "This Is Not Here" – 4:58
- "Of the Perfect Kind" – 6:11
- "Tilting at Windmills" – 4:38
- "Think of These Things" – 4:17
- "Willow" – 4:20
- "And Before the First Kiss" – 5:55
- "Freezing Point" – 7:19
2005 bonus tracks
The following tracks appear on the 2005 reissue of the album from LTM recordings.
- "Missing the Moon"
- "A Wrong Turn and Raindrops"
- "An Earlier Autumn"
- "September's Not So Far Away"
- "Between Hello and Goodbye"