Georgia Fields’ debut EP, Drama On The High Seas Of Emotion, and memorable live performances garnered much praise, but it wasn’t until the Melbourne singer-songwriter received funding from Arts Victoria that she was able to see the fullness of her musical ideas flourish into life here on her debut album.
Georgia Fields’ debut EP, Drama On The High Seas Of Emotion, and memorable live performances garnered much praise, but it wasn’t until the Melbourne singer-songwriter received funding from Arts Victoria that she was able to see the fullness of her musical ideas flourish into life here on her debut album.
Fields recruited an impressive list of musicians from VCA and NMIT, enlisted Greg Arnold as producer, and even had the album mastered by Nashville’s Jim DeMain (Robert Plant, Dan Auerbach, Justin Townes Earle, Lambchop). As a result, Fields was able to utilise a mini-indie-orchestra to elevate her vintage folk-pop into beautifully-crafted pop gems brimming in an array of traditional and unconventional instrumentation, including brass and string instruments, piano, vibraphone, melodica, percussive instruments, ukulele, toys and random appliances.
Fields’ debut album opens with a majestic string and horn-laden instrumental before gliding into the vibraphone-shimmering beauty, Seven Years, in which the contributions of cellist/multi-instrumentalist Judith Hamann are most prevalent. As showcased in All The King’s Men, Fields’ lyrics can evoke the occasional cringe, but more often than not, the listener will find themselves smitten by her frank and mawkish lyricism. This particular line, however, must find Fields even a little abashed: “Let’s recline / Lay between sheets like filo pastry / You’re good enough to eat.”
This Is Not A Drill captures Fields’ natural charms wonderfully as she surmises the more challenging aspects of a relationship (“Swimming in social debris / Muscular feats of denial / Clutching your moral compass tight”); whereas Two For Tea opts for pure simplicity as Fields sings over a bristling ukulele melody: “And I’ll get fat and you’ll go grey / But that’s alright ’cause it’s gonna be just you and me”.
Blue Sky With A Black Cloud Parade is a defining track on the album with its sublimely textured melody and Fields’ thoughtful songwriting shining through in a refreshing light: “You shake hands with the heartache / Take it into your bed / Making friends with the sorrow / You keep it well fed / I wish that you had perforated edges / So I could tear you out of this / And paste you into happiness”. One Finger’s adorably eccentric nature is most indicative of Fields’ distinctive pop styling, featuring memorable lines like “You’re too tall to have small man syndrome / Yet you sink to dishing out the low blows” and “you’ve been carrying a chip on your shoulder the size of a saucepan”.
Fields’ quirky/cute retro-chic aesthetic may be obvious and accentuated, but the bubbly singer-songwriter is positively substance over style. Fields’ self-titled debut full-length is a warm, relatable and charming diary-album of folk-pop enchantment.
