You Tell Me is a new collaboration between Field Music’s Peter Brewis and Admiral Fallow member Sarah Hayes.
The pair met at a Kate Bush celebration concert: “I'd been an admirer of Field Music for a good while before meeting Peter at the gig,” sarah recalls, “so i was pleased to discover he wasn't an insufferable diva, and delighted that he was keen to try working on some music together.”
Peter had been “blown away” by Sarah’s voice during a rendition of 'This Woman’s Work', and when he investigated her solo work he heard a lot of parallels to what he was trying to do in Field Music. They subsequently discovered a shared love of artists such as the Blue Nile, Jon Brion, Rufus Wainwright, Tortoise and Randy Newman
Sarah had previously only written instrumental music and arrangements, often favouring interpreting others’ lyrics or working with traditional songs. However, when she sent peter some songs she had written, the initial plan of working together in the capacity of him producing her soon evolved into a new collaboration.
By blending their distinct compositional talents, they’ve created a record that reflects their own individual styles whilst also possessing a new voice of their own. with both of them writing songs and lyrics.
Sonically, the result is a subtly crafted album with a rich and intricate sense of composition, in which strings glide above multi-layered keyboards and percussion, and vocal melodies wrap around one another in snug unison. In many senses it feels like a classic songwriter record – rich in craft, songs, arrangements and vocal interplay – yet it manages to feel stylistically contemporary and void of nostalgia.
Lyrically the album is largely built around the subject of communication and miscommunication.
The ghost of Dagmar Krause and Slapp Happy.