(Dream Pop, Indie, Post-Apocalyptic, Synthpop) Fielded - Ninety Thirty Thirty - 2013, MP3, 320 kbps

Born from dreams of science-fiction and a desire to decode a whirlwind of experience, Fielded's sophomore album Ninety Thirty Thirty is a freaky cosmic pop opus. Each song is an installment in a series from some cinematic drifter's wasteland. They are outer space transmissions, but also quite intuitive and direct with stories and melodies unfolding at the same time.
The current project of Lindsay Powell (of Ga'an and Skyblazer), Fielded's music is led by and built around Powell's vocal operatics. On her debut release Terrageist and recent split with Alex Barnett, Powell's vocal layering and manipulation provided the song's foundations, as well as much of the instrumentation and textures. On Ninety Thirty Thirty, Powell's arrangements went from a'cappella soliloquies to fully arranged mood-melters adding collaborators into the mix. It's Fielded’s first album that works more than just the voice, embarking on a more fulfilling journey of musicianship, songwriting, and divadom.
Throughout the record she explores her side of the song utilizing thick, warped vocals, synth arrangements, and drum programming - while simultaneously inviting others to come up with their own parts with very little guidance, allowing for that exciting element of chance. The result is futurist vocal-driven pop steeped in the heavily arranged art-rock structures of the 70s and 80s; each song pulls you in upon first listen but the instrumentation leaves much to unravel and repeatedly return.
The album was realized in a childhood-home studio in New Jersey, the isolation of suburbia inspiring determination and commitment to the fulfillment of the fantasy sound that existed in her private world. Regarding it's creation, Powell says "This record was a pause. A slow pulse of clarity. A moment of reflection after a period of time when i lived without hesitation; then came the growing pains. Ninety Thirty Thirty comes from a cinematic, science fiction dream I had while was on tour. I was the founder of a cult in post-apocalyptic America called "Ninety Thirty Thirty." Ninety represented the Uterus and Thirty Thirty the ovaries. What a code to unlock, I thought. And I think that’s what Fielded deals in often. The decoding of experience. We’ll never understand ourselves but there are so many questions that allow for amazing records or songs or relationships along the way."
A cinematic dissection of a post-apocalyptic dominion; Ninety Thirty Thirty aims to translate the specificities of human experience in order to defy genre and compartmentalization. Fielded’s desire is palpable. The desire to let go in order to make room for the unknown, the desire to not only summon but to become the outsider. Ninety Thirty Thirty is a step toward expansion and passion; we listen and internalize it’s sincerity, we gratefully invite to what was simply and pleasantly unexpected in the world of pop music.