Fields

Prior to issuing their debut album, Fields made a band-sanctioned mixtape available to supporters via their website and MySpace page. The collection placed three original tracks alongside selections from Pentangle, Linda Perhacs, and Silver Apples, plus contributions from Sufjan Stevens, Thurston Moore, Broadcast, Smog, and Jaga Jazzist, thereby sketching the sources that shaped the British quintet. Their own sound draws on this same palette of eccentric acoustic folk, electronic textures, and shoegazer guitar layers, yet extends well beyond those touchstones. The group, headquartered in Birmingham, comprises singer and guitarist Nick Peill, Icelandic-born singer and keyboardist Thorunn Antonia, guitarist Jamie Putnam, bassist and keyboardist Matty Derham, and drummer Henry Spenner. Under contract to the Black Lab imprint, an independent British label distributed through Atlantic Records, they first surfaced with the EP 7 from the Village during summer 2006. Their inaugural full-length, Everything Last Winter, arrived in early 2007; Michael Beinhorn, whose prior work includes sessions with the Bronx, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Pete Yorn, handled production.