FIELD, THE - Looping State Of Mind (2LP) on sale

FIELD, THE - Looping State Of Mind (2LP)
The title of the Field's third album, Looping State of Mind, might have you thinking that producer Axel Willner is getting back to basics. Especially after he strayed, with only intermittent success, from his instantly recognizable template on his 2009 sophomore record, Yesterday and Today. After all, at its simplest, techno is music that can be built with just a few loops. And Willner's first few records certainly made effective use of the form, layering shimmering loops of voice and synth and guitar on each track until he'd built a fluffy and infinitely soothing wall of sound. Immersive and repetitive, the Field's first singles and 2007 debut album, From Here We Go Sublime, were like ambient records disguised as both experimental techno and luscious pop. So is Looping State of Mind a return to that sound, the one that made the Field a crossover favorite with rock kids a few years back? Not exactly. In a few instances it's barely recognizable as "the Field" at all. It may be still be built from loops, but Willner's never orchestrated so many of them so artfully into such dense and infinitely listenable soundscapes. Good thing, too, because the last few years have seen a lot of bedroom producers become briefly famous for ambient records disguised as pop, for amorphous electronic doodles disguised as songs.