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THE HUMMING FIELD • The Humming Field
There's absolutely nothing ordinary about journeyman Massachusetts guitarist/producer Matt Cullen's long-awaited solo debut, The Humming Field, a richly textured dozen-track set that frequently evokes the beatific buzz of XTC's most riveting work.
Cullen, who's collaborated onstage and/or in the studio with (among others) The Sighs, Kevin Salem, and most recently Ware River Club, artfully conveys a broad range of meaning by using every poetic tool at his disposal. Like XTC and other obvious reference-point musicians from both sides of the Atlantic such as David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Spirit, he crafts a distinctive sonic vocabulary all his own, a language that's stark and emotionally precise at times, awe-inspiring and mysterious at others.
Tracks of particular note on the self-released indie gem include "I Didn't Know," launched by a growling electric guitar intro into liquid layers of brainy and brawny prog-rock without pretension. "Nothing But Alone" features a gauzy Cullen vocal laid over a galloping folk-rock foundation to stirring effect, and "Air So Empty" explores similar supple melodic territory with an amped up propulsive thrust. In a connected vein flows "Underwater," a pastoral instrumental that showcases trad acoustic grandeur in a taut rhythmic framework.
If two songs best capture Cullen's angular approach at its most arresting, they would be "Empty Pockets," an edgy, surge-and-whisper tug of war, and "The Therapy Song," three and a half minutes of tightly coiled menace and snarl.
There's no dead air in The Humming Field, only sound with a purpose and enough levels to explore to keep attentive ears engaged for many listens to come. • Mike Thomas
listen to clips return to covers buy it here or here
humming field myspace thehummingfield.com
The Humming Field live is Matt Cullen on guitar, Don McAulay on drums, and Kathranne Knight on bass, with vocals from each.
