FFWD REW

Peals – Walking Field

Thrill Jockey

Peals are a duo from Baltimore the newest project of William Cashion (of Future Islands) and Bruce Willen (of Double Dagger). Peals is a bit of a departure from those bands however as Walking Field is an album of introspective relatively stripped-down and comforting instrumental vignettes. Rather than a band you watch play songs Peals is more for sensory exploration and melodic intuition — “atmospherics” if you will.

Much of Walking Field maintains a circular looping sort of feel such as in the rolling textural percussion of “Blue Elvis” the playful guitar layering on “Tiptoes in the Parlour” and the hanging melodies of “Koan 1.” The feeling throughout the album is rather lighthearted but not flippant or weightless. Calling a record “pleasant” is usually a polite way of being dismissive and while Peals’ debut effort glides by nigh-effortlessly with warmly immediate melodies Walking Field is surprisingly rich offering much from repeat listens. The absence of bass or drums is rarely felt instead leading to a rich sonic palette of acoustics field recordings and other slight electronic (but never “electro”) touches. Put “Floating Leaf” in your walking playlist and you’ll be hooked.

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