A new name for me, but Melody Fields grabbed my attention from the get go and held it, and that’s some achievement on a Tuesday evening.
I had to laugh. It sounds like a porn star pseudonym, doesn’t it, as in ‘Melody Fields all comers’? (Not that I watch that kind of stuff of course)! Hope that observation doesn’t offend them in any way.
‘1901’ is the first of two albums to be released this year by the Gothenburg-based five-piece, one of whom could be Ozzy Osbourne. Along with the album they also release the focus single, ‘Jesus’.
I’m unaware of any significance of 1901 the year. The first Nordic Games took place in Stockholm, women were granted four weeks maternity leave (they were tough in those days) and Princess Märthe was born. That’s pretty much it.
What I do know is that‘1901’ explores themes of spirituality, faith, trust, and conviction, and has been described as a rock album with psychedelic influences but on the strength of this track and a few others I managed to catch I reckon ‘psychedelic album with rock influences’ might better identify it. There is a subtle difference.
This ‘Jesus’ might be the one in The Greatest Story Ever Told as, after an opening note that could be ‘Alive and Kicking’, he comes down from the mount with all guns blazing to a powerful Spaghetti-western style riff.
Thereafter a heavenly choir takes centre stage with what is a highly tuneful chant, almost religious in nature in its own right.
It isn’t quite so evident on this track as it is on those either side of it that there are strong hints of Pink Floyd in there; well at least to me anyway. If you can imagine the Floyd mixed in with The Polyphonic Spree in full flow, I reckon that positions them quite well.
Melody Fields shares a common trait with both of those bands. By all accounts they put on a dynamic live performance with eddying visual effects.
Sounds like something we’d like to have a taste of over here, too.
‘1901’ arrived on 13th October 2023 if that doesn’t sound too much like Back to the Future, while the follow-up ‘1991’, the track list of which suggests even greater religious significance, drops on 10th November 2023, both via Coop Records and Nudie Records.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melodyfieldsband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melodyfields.band/
Bandcamp: https://melodyfields.bandcamp.com/
