The Field – The Follower

Swedish producer Axel Willner’s 2011 album title, Looping State of Mind, perhaps sums up his music as The Field better than anything. Referencing his penchant for minimal samples on a tight replay as well as the hypnotic quality it often evokes, fifth album The Follower is very much in the same vein. Dare we say that Willner’s beats, moods and tempos are more consistent this time out, lending The Follower a much easier inroad on first listen.

This is not to say that the record suffers for its immediacy or indeed that it’s without surprises. The stealthy gear change on Monte Verita is a downtempo delight while Reflecting Lights is a sombre, Kraftwerkian epic that’s in a state of constant flux yet somehow rigid and unmoving. As such, it’s difficult not to think of John Peel’s oft-quoted summary of The Fall: "always different, always the same." [Darren Carle]