Musically speaking, Wisconsin has yet to disappoint this year. Though drawing inspiration from time spent in Chicago and Nashville, the Wisconsinite group Foreign Fields joins Midwestern brethren such as Field Report and the Blessed Feathers in the recent trend towards an electronic take on traditional folk music. What sets these guys apart? Most notably the seamless way the lyrics and instrumentals work together to give off the impression that one has never existed without the other. The result is a pure quality within the album that is equally as sincere as it is captivating.
Personally, the group hits their mark far more strongly with their more stripped down numbers such as “Perfect Home” or “Fake Arms” — a track off their album Anywhere But Where I Am that breaks your heart a little more with each progressing chord. This isn’t to say, however, that Foreign Fields’ experimentation with a more electronic ethereal sound in tracks such as the single “Taller” or in the expansive “A Difficult Year” isn’t equally as compelling. Plain and simple, Foreign Fields is not a group to be passed over, and it is unlikely they will be. With an album this resonating, it’s a sound that is darn near impossible to walk away from.