Based
in London, Dreamfield are a rhythmic and ambient band that blend musical
nuances very well. Their release of Take Me With You is a CD
single and contains two versions of a song by the same name as well as
Distant Skies. Reminiscent of work by artists Bel Canto, their music is
the type you can lose yourself easily within.
Formed by partners Poppy Gonzalez and Gregg McKella, they each have roles within the ensemble that are varied and, well, interesting. Poppy handles vocals, piano and "rhythmic things" while Gregg does guitars and "psychadelic clarinet." Now I wasn't aware prior to this that there was such an instrument as a "psychadelic clarinet," but believe you me it is readily apparent and used to full extent in Distant Skies. Their debut release, this single, was put out on January 14th of 2000. They are currently working on creating an independent label to promote their own work and recording in Bark studios.
Being this is a CD single, I feel it is appropriate to cover everything here - the three tracks Take Me With You, Distant Skies and Take Me With You - Short Wave Mix.
Take Me With You
The opening and nominal track of the single has a moody, yet
comfortable, atmosphere about it. A windy background opening is permeated
by Gregg's "psychadelic clarinet" and Poppy's vocals are floaty
and dreamy - not unlike the aforementioned Bel Canto's Anneli Drecker.
Female harmony during choruses is beautiful. Bass and drums are even and
build slowly, with an ear to smooth and sexy. Guitar solos are well-placed
and never steal from the rest of the instrumentation. Overall, Take Me
With You is wonderfully arranged. Poppy's dreamy "Take Me With
You" chorus really can if you close your eyes.
Distant Skies
Female fronted and lead, Distant Skies is very light and breezy.
Drums come in very strong and powerful - the snare seems even a bit too
strong. Hits on it can almost make you twitch - suggestion to Dreamfield
to tone down the snare pick-up. The reverberating drum hit takes away from
the smooth execution of the track. Excepting the twitching snare hits
which are always [too] loud and clear, the song becomes quite a mish mash
of rhythmic incantations and flowing clarinet. The wide combination of
sounds and instruments creates a powerful and all-encompassing effect and
draws to a strong, albeit messy, closing.
Take Me With You - Short Wave
Mix
Seems to get its mix name from the computeresque
opening and static-laden ambient background noise. The synth melodies are
nice. Again the drum track, at least the main hits, are reverberating and
loud giving the track a twitchiness. Chorus harmonies are here, but
surrounded by squealing guitars/synths. I prefer the original. Seems like
simply a case of "don't try to fix what isn't broken." Gets a
bit funkier towards the latter portion, and the sudden bass line is nice
but doesn't seem to fit within the scheme of the track. Vocals are a bit
repetitive.
Dreamfield have arrangement skills above and beyond the norm and the inclusion of "rhythmic things" and "psychadelic clarinets" really make these artists stand out. Take Me With You (original version) is my favorite on this single and it's worth spinning multiple times just to get away from things. My interest in their future work is happily and dreamily piqued.
Contact Information:
Telephone: 44 (0) 117 946 68 68
Fax: 44 (0) 117 946 68
69
E-Mail: management@dreamfield.co.uk
Web: http://www.dreamfield.co.uk/
