Three Fields

Not much is known about the enigmatic Three Fields. He's either a male electroacoustic producer from Birmingham or a compositional algorithm developed by a high-ranking university to see if anyone can tell the difference. Either way, one must judge the sparse, minimalist works released under the moniker Three Fields on their own merits. As an album, Cambridge Blue consists of slowly evolving synth lines cushioning repetitive piano and guitar phrases, coming off stylistically like a Philip Glass kosmische musik project. Changes are constant but often subtle, masked by melodic duplication and digital sighs that lull the listener into aural lethargy. Yet the sound is slightly unsettling as much as it is oddly soothing, particularly considering aspects like the uncomfortable warble in the piano's timbre on "Chorus Synth" and the deep bass and dead, plastic choir on "Interland." As such, Cambridge Blue is just as well suited to a day spa as it is the score to a Twin Peaks reboot.