The Field: Now You Exist EP

"The biggest difference between the old Field and the new Field is in the drums. Those early records often had stiff rhythms built on Kompakt's minimal techno blueprint. They were usually obscured by haze and fog, muffled like heartbeats; the clipped vocals or carefully hewn samples provided most of the rhythm anyway. Here, when the drums finally land about halfway into the eight-minute "In Our Dreams," they feel limber. It's as if after years of stiffness and tension, Willner finally stretched out, cracking his neck and shoulders in just the right way."

"Though the Field's formula remains intact, the looser energy gives the project a new lease on life. The percussion on "Hey Baby" is rough and tumble like the rickety drum machines of mid-late-'80s Chicago house records, and underneath, the whole track swells and recedes as if it were breathing. "Hey Baby" pulls the Field away from the celestial and into the earthly, like he stopped making art for blue-chip galleries and moved onto some decrepit warehouse on the outskirts of town."

"Now You Exist, his first record in eight years. Maybe it's because it's on Studio Barnhus instead of his usual home of Kompakt, but it comes off loose and relaxed, unmoored from the clinical techno beats of his most revered work; it sets off on the wide-open path Infinite Moment laid out in 2018 and then veers ruggedly off road. With its over-the-top emotions and genuine hooks, Now You Exist recalls a more unhurried, washed-out version of his debut album, From Here We Go Sublime, sprawled out in the sun and left to bake for a while."

Now You Exist is the first record in eight years and sounds looser and more relaxed than earlier Field releases. The EP moves away from the clinical techno beats associated with prior work and follows the wider-open direction established by Infinite Moment in 2018. The main change is the drums: earlier records used stiff, minimal techno rhythms often obscured by haze, with rhythm carried by vocals or samples. On “In Our Dreams,” drums arrive later and feel limber, suggesting tension has been released. “Hey Baby” uses rough, tumble percussion reminiscent of late-1980s Chicago house, with sound that swells and recedes like breathing, giving the music a more earthly, warehouse-like texture.

Read at Pitchfork