Field Music @ Saint Luke's, Glasgow, 17 Mar

Brothers Peter and David Brewis write with a consistency currently unparalleled in UK indie rock. They've produced seven intricately assembled studio albums that fuse funk, classical, folk and jangly guitars. They’re somehow restless and experimental, methodical and workmanlike simultaneously. You’ve got to respect the craft. But ‘consistency’ isn’t all that sexy of a descriptor, so Field Music are a band more frequently appreciated than adored.

That changes in person. Watching the band assemble a knotty groove from scratch, leaning into their instruments, changes how you perceive their music. Just putting a face to the tight mesh of collaborators gives a new life to their work. Set opener, Time in Joy, is typically intricate. The separate instruments coil around each other like a puzzle on record. Live, it’s stunning to watch Sarah Hayes of Admiral Fallow bob from flute to keys with ease, while the percussionist giddily switches from shaker to bells to cowbell, as the Brewis brothers casually swap band leader even though one is behind a drum kit. There’s a lot going on, but it all rings through so clearly – especially on the chorus, a sunny group vocal that gives each member a chance to pause and beam.

These are a tight group of performers, but there’s a newfound urgency on their latest album that translates over into the live show. Peter and David write clever, subtle lyrics, and that’s no different on Open Here – but fatherhood seems to have made them both write with a wider perspective. The songs they’ve created as a result are wry, endearing anthems about a range of modern injustices. Halfway through their set, David introduces No King No Princess by explaining that it was written for his daughter. 'There isn't only one way to be a girl' he sings, supported by his bandmates on the springy chorus ('You can paint it how you want / And you can dress up how you want / And you can do the job you want…'). It’s a sweet sentiment that’s given added bite in a passionate vocal.

That passion is carried forward to songs like Count It Up, a Talking Heads-channelling rant about privilege, or 'the ever-growing list of things you can't claim all the credit for'. The deadpan instrumental is a perfect backdrop of David’s freeflowing rant. You could've memorised the lyrics and still be taken aback by their swaggering delivery. The urgency to their new music is downright revitalising.

That’s not to discount their impressive back catalogue. The band mine gold reaching all the way back to 2007’s Tones of Town, while fan favourites Disappointed and Let’s Write a Book sound fresh, lifted by live sax and St Luke’s warm acoustics. Field Music will be a band fully adored for many in the crowd tonight.