The Field - Infinite Moment

The Field
Infinite Moment
2018
Spotify

Ambient electronica is a strange animal. It is so many different things all at once, that it is often hard to put a definition on. Sure it can ethereal and drifting, but it can also put a beat on the floor and take on some big heavy beats. It’s about creating a space for the music, then actually creating the music itself. Because words are rarely used the emotion of the song itself has to convey the message and takes much greater attention to glean. That is how this new record from The Field feels, like we are being plopped down in a very specific place, who knows where, and this music is only allowed to exist there. The creativity becomes magical, the possibilities feel endless and magic moments occur all the time. Infinite Moment feels just like that, a moment that goes on forever. There really is no song structure, though there are specific tracks, instead the tend to just meander and go where they may. Throbbing synths and drum machines turn the first song into this fuzzy place in the distance that you are constantly going after, but never truly arriving at. It feels like The Field is always going to turn a knob or press a key and suddenly we are full throttle in this thing, but those moments of release take a long time to get here. “Made of Steel. Made of Stone” is a track that is so different at the end than where it began it’s hard to even consider it one unified piece of music.

While the sounds all give Infinite Moment a sense of genre, they don’t do much to give the record a congealed feel. With each new movement on a track or on the album you feel like you are going in another direction, things change slowly, but they change with intention nearly unaware of what has come before them. The intimal impact of special awareness and oure vibing starts to wear off eventually leading you to this place of annoyance with how long He is droning on. “Divide Now” is so unchanging that it’s over 11 minute runtime is exhausting at the end. It’s also only the second track and you realize you have four more that are between eight and twelve minutes each. It’s overwhelming for a six track record to be this repetitive forcing you to into this really dark space. The drone takes you further and further inward until finally for a few moments “Hear Your Voice” gives you a bit of pretty sounding relief. IN the grand scheme of things though the impact of this album is initially pretty wonderful, but then it just never ends. It’s almost like a jam band, but so much slower and in a way that drills straight into your skull. Some nice ideas here, but buckle up for a long long ride.

5.5 out of 10