M Field has released his self-titled debut EP and shares a fifth track, “Ten Is A Number”. With the previous four tracks featuring co-production from Bullion (Westerman, Nilüfer Yanya), “Ten Is A Number” is fully self-produced and mixed by Marcus Paquin.
“The verse of Ten is a Number began as a voice note that was half-forgotten, returned to and developed as a pitch for a movie. It was not chosen, but I liked it and so I added a chorus to it. When I wrote the chorus I felt like it perfectly embodied the way life felt at the time, which is a rare thing I think. I had met some new people and felt a kind of sheltered youthful optimism I hadn’t felt for a while,” Field explains.
“I like the way the minor mode changes to the major as the chorus starts, like something melting. The first lyrics that I mumbled were ‘ooh, like a cinnamon bun’ – these were replaced by ‘ten is a number I know’ but in a way ‘cinnamon bun’ also works. I find the way numbers figure in our lives mad and fascinating, and I also like the idea of numbers as having their own special characters and qualities.”
The track is the last to debut from a gorgeous EP which combines off-kilter rhythms with somersaulting melodies flipping through gossamer textures that recall Peter Gabriel and The Blue Nile.
The collection of songs came together on the fly. Some were picked out from old demos and reworked, some were more freshly written.
Having recently moved to London after years of record-breaking success with Beatenberg in his home country of South Africa, M Field offers his solo material.
The organic, stripped back feel, and tip tapping rhythms of Ten Is A Number I Know might sound most familiar to Beatenberg fans, but here there is something just that little bit more playful going on, something lighter and more relaxed as Field has fun with the ambiguities of the lyric.
Having started releasing music at this start of this year, previous EP tracks include “Gargoyle” (March), “Leafy Outlook” (May), “Andrew” (June) and “Fiona” (July), and won the support of Pitchfork, Fader, Crack, DIY, The Line of Best Fit, NPR, i-D, Clash, The Independent, The Times and more.
“Ten Is A Number” and M Field EP are out now.
Connect with M Field:
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