Little Wings
Soft Pow’r
RAD
2007 has been a pretty good year for Northwest lo-fi, there have been umpteen Adrian Orange/Thanksgiving releases, a couple Phil Elvrum discs, and now Kyle Field’s Little Wings. As usual, Field’s songwriting and arranging is whisper-thin, mostly comprised of an acoustic guitar and ghostly ephemera on melody (piano) and rhythm (drums). His vocals crack and fade as if he’s putting too little and too much strain on his vocal cords simultaneously. This is unhurried music, shot through with back porch laziness and beer can sweat, captured at the time of day when booze intake has led to observations of the present and reflections on the past. “Saturday” is wistful and dreamy, happily biding time waiting with no particular place to go or thing to do. “Free Bird” follows Field’s logic through the contemplation of his life of freedom until he decides to settle down and become a “tree bird.” Funny enough, the simple humanism in this song’s metaphor trumps Skynyrd’s now ironic hubris and helps waft this EP out as quickly as it came. Soft Power indeed.
Marriage Records: http://www.marriagerecords.com
